Weddings
by MyHairyFace
Summary: A Series of SoMa One-shots, with the carrying theme of weddings. Chapter 7: Maka always knew what and why when it came to her mother. She understood when Kami did something. Maka always understood because her mother was like her and Maka didn't do childish irresponsible things and that was it. So… What in Death's name was her mother doing?
1. Miscommunication

_Guuuh, My first Soul Eater Fanfic. I do hope you enjoy it. Recent Development/Edit, ran it through the spell check yadda yadda._

_I was embarrassed to have it as the front page of my collection of One-Shots looking like such rubbish. So now it's better and fixed and yay!_

_Hope you enjoy it!_

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><p>Maka scuffed the ground hesitantly; her eyes still glued to the big bay window at the front of the church, searching the outside street for the motorcycle she knew wouldn't be there. He was on a mission, over-seas, like always. The tight knot in her stomach churned, making her head spin. This was not the way it was supposed to be. She took a shaky step back, unstable in her three-inch heels. These shoes would be the death of her, she swore it. Her large white dress trailed delicately behind her as she paced slowly in front of the window, still focusing on her breathing.<p>

"You look beautiful," A familiar voice behind her said. She froze for a moment, trying to fix her expression to that of 'blushing bride'; it came out as a scowl.

"Thanks," She said through gritted teeth, turning towards her father. Spirit smiled at her encouragingly, but it didn't touch his eyes, they remained dark and expressionless. After a moment he sighed and leaned against the wood paneling of the wall. Maka knew he wasn't happy; no one was in this situation. If her father knew this was what she really wanted he'd throw a big stink about his little girl and how much he loved her; tears, running nose, the whole bit. There was none of that today. Just mournful sighs and cold expressions. She went back to looking out of her window,

"You really do look like a bride Maka," Spirit finally mumbled. She knew he was right. The strapless white dress (that stayed up by some miracle) clung nicely to her torso, accentuating the curves she had finally developed over the past few years. At her waist it flared out, leaving delicate folds and giving her the fairy princess look that so many girls dreamed of. A layer of simple, but beautiful lace covered the entire garment. The veil was placed delicately in her hair, surrounded by curls pinned up around the crown of her head, leaving a few to cascade down her neck. Yes, Spirit was right, she _looked _like a bride. Whether she felt like one, well that was a different story.

"Yeah, Thanks," She said again. Dread had started to fill her completely as she scanned the street once more. He wasn't coming. Her father watched her, a sickly expression clouding his face. He sucked in a breath,

"I don't think Soul's coming," He said slowly. Maka flinched involuntarily at the words she knew were true. She just hadn't accepted it yet,

"He probably didn't get the invitation," She breathed, choking back tears for the hundredth time today. Most brides were supposed to cry from joy, she mused morbidly.

"Mmm," Spirit watched her steady herself on the window frame,

"It's hard to know where he'll be, with all his assignments... Ever since he became a Death Scythe, he doesn't need me anymore. He's Lord Death's weapon now. I always knew that would mean he'd be sent on missions all over the world without me... I hardly see him; I haven't talked to him..." She was shaking now, little sobs getting caught in her rib cage. Spirit stood to his feet quickly,

"Damn it Maka! You don't need to do this!" He grabbed her shoulders spinning her around, "Don't do this." He looked into her eyes but she averted her gaze almost instantly,

"I have to," She mumbled, "there's no other way... I don't have a choice"

"I'll fight for you Maka! Everyone will! You can't marry someone you don't love, no matter how dangerous-" Maka's sadness turned to anger in a flash,

"What the hell do you know about love!" She interrupted, "You 'love' every woman that moves!" She pushed him off, "If there was a way out of this, trust me, I would have taken it! I'm getting married today, and you'll either walk me down the aisle quietly, and smile politely and say that you agree with the union, or you won't walk me down at all! Your choice," She spun on her heel indignantly, almost toppling over, "The wedding is going to start soon," She said coldly. Spirit watched the back of her head for a moment before sighing in defeat,

"I'll go get Tsubaki, Patty and Liz then," he mumbled quietly, glancing at his daughter before gathering up the bridesmaids.

* * *

><p>The motorcycle screeched around the corner, barely missing a yellow sports car, Soul had to put his foot out and push off the passenger door of the sleek vehicle in order to make the corner. The bike swerved slightly before he gave it more throttle and shot forward.<p>

"Shit!" He growled, glancing down at his watch angrily. His plane had been delayed. He was going to be too late, if wasn't too late already. Why hadn't Lord Death told him? He hadn't heard from Lord Death for a while actually. His mission to find and stop the new Kishin that had awoken failed, was it that Shinigami was angry with him? But even then' Black Star could have at least... He urged the bike forward, going faster than he ever had on the stupid hunk of metal. He swerved around the corner and saw the church standing before him. With a jerk of his upper body, he managed to jump the curb in front of the ominous building. As it came back towards the ground, he forced himself off the bike, discarding it on its side in the middle of the parking lot as he ran headlong towards the door, a string of profanities following him.

"Maka!" He bellowed, bursting through the doors. When he saw that the front lobby was empty, fear gripped every part of him. _I'm too late._ He forced his body to move up the stairs, still running faster than he thought he knew how towards the main sanctuary, where she was getting... married. He felt his teeth grit tighter together at the thought. Skidding around the corner he saw her, standing at the front of the room holding hands with some stranger, someone he'd never even met before. The man smiled down at her but her green eyes were stuck to the minister in between them. He couldn't help but notice just how _beautiful _Maka was... Soul felt sick. He took a loud step into the sanctuary and tried to steady his panting,

"Maka," Soul growled from the back of the room. Every head turned towards him. There weren't many people attending; only members from he and Maka's old high school class, some Shibushin professors and Maka's parents. Her mother, he noted silently, whom he had only met once. All together, they only filled about five pews. His leather jacket and black jeans really didn't fit in with all the suits and fancy dresses, but was beyond caring about that.

"S-soul?" Maka stammered, staring down the aisle towards him. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what he was doing as he walked towards her, his body shaking, his hands balled into fists,

"What the _hell_ is this Maka?" he said quietly, his words icy. He glanced at the bridesmaids on the platform with her; each had an expression of pure dread. Even Patty, in her eyes he saw malice,

"My wedding," Maka squeaked quietly, Soul kept advancing up the aisle, only now noticing the whispers all around him. Someone grabbed the sleeve of his jacket. He jerked it away before looking down at Stein who simply shook his head at the boy and tried to tell him something with his eyes. But the anger and pain was too much,

"Your wedding." He said evenly.

"Who is this, Maka?" The man holding Maka's hands said politely. Too politely, Soul finally looked at him and his mouth fell open slightly. There was no doubt in his mind, no way around it. The man standing next to Maka was a Kishin. In fact, he was _the _Kishin that Soul had been hunting. His black hair jetted out in a few different ways, but insanity was oozing out of him. Everyone in this room knew and feared him. His unpredictable nature became painfully apparent to Soul whose eyes immediately darted towards Maka. She wasn't getting married because she loved him; she was getting married because she was in danger. Not only her... but...

"Where's Lord Death?" Soul said evenly. This time Stein stood beside Soul and leaned towards him,

"Sit down," He breathed, "Now," Soul looked up at his former meister, her eyes pleading. He felt as if he might explode everywhere all at once. He knew something was wrong; it was now simply a matter of how to fix it. Of all the messes Maka had gotten into... He swore he would never leave this woman again.

* * *

><p>Maka looked into Soul's crimson eyes, much of the apprehension leaving her as he sat down beside Stein, his eyes never breaking contact with her own.<p>

"Darling," She cringed as Marcus spoke again, his voice coated in artificial kindness, "I don't like to ask twice. Who is that who has tried to ruin _my _special day?" His voice wavered twice, Maka knew he was trying to keep the insanity under wraps, but it was difficult for someone as sinister as him.

"That's Soul," She mumbled quietly, trying to ignore the flutter she felt when she said his name, "That's my weapon,"

"Soul?" Marcus scoffed, "I'll kill him later, on with the ceremony." Maka's breath got caught in her throat,

"Y-you promised," She whispered, "No one gets killed if I marry you, and you'll let Lord Death and Black Star go," Marcus' eyes narrowed,

"Discussions for a married couple, not an engaged one," He turned to the congregation and let out a few crazed laughs, "Sorry about the interruption," He spat the words out, "We will continue now," his right arm caught the minister by the neck suddenly, "Where were we now?" He chuckled maniacally as the minister gasped for air under his grip,

"Y-yes," he wheezed, "Do you Marcus Albatraus take Maka Albarn as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Marcus released the minister to go back to holding Maka's hands. He dug his nails into her skin wildly and she cringed automatically. Everyone in the room could tell. Maka could see Soul gripping the hardwood of the pew in front of him tightly, his teeth gritted. She closed her eyes and thought of what would happen when this was all over.

"Do you Maka Albarn..."

Lord Death would be safe, which meant Shibusen would be safe,

"Take Marcus Albatraus..."

Black Star, the idiot... he would be safe. Although if he hadn't tried to stop the wedding the first place he'd be safe anyway,

"As your Lawfully Wedded..."

Her Family would be safe. Her friends... Marcus promised he'd leave them be. And although she hated trusting a Kishin, there was nothing else she could do,

"Husband?"

And Soul would be safe. He'd given his life for her dozen, hundreds of times. She could do the same easily.

"I do."

There were sounds of distaste from the crowd that Maka tried desperately to ignore. She thought instead of how kind it was for all of them to come. To say Goodbye. Of course it was viewed as more of a funeral then a wedding for Maka. Everyone saw it as such. Well, everyone aside from Marcus. Of course the best possibility seemed that Marcus would simply consume her soul, but let the others live.

"You may kiss the bride,"

"There we are," Marcus mused, releasing Maka's hands. She looked down to see blood covering them from where his nails had punctured her, "Old man," Marcus looked at the minister, "That took too long," with one swish of his hand, the ministers body collapsed, his head rolling dismembered across the platform. Marcus giggled at Maka horrified expression.

"Enough!" Death the Kid was standing up in his pew, fitting in with all the men wearing a black suit jacket. However, rage was coursing through his body, "Enough of all this! Patty! Liz!"

"I thought you'd never ask," Liz ripped off the bottom of her red dress and did an elegant jump into the air before morphing into the sleek silver gun. Patty followed in a similar manner, pointing her fingers in the shape of a gun at Marcus before turning into the real thing. Tsubaki shot Maka a panicked look, no doubt wondering what to do without her precious meister there. Kid didn't hesitate at all, he jumped from the pew to catch the girls, aiming perfectly at Marcus and shooting the gun deliberately. Marcus slapped the bullets away with the back of his hand, causing them to collide explosively with the pews, scattering the guest with them.

"Please..." Maka fell to her knees at the smoke cloud in front of her, not one of the guest's visible inside, "You promised,"

"Men promise all sorts of things they don't intend to follow through with," Marcus laughed hysterically as he stood over her, he leaned down to meet her eye to eye, "I will kill all of them," he whispered, "One. By. One,"

"Like hell you will," The smoke cloud cleared to reveal the guest, a large group of meisters partnered with their transformed weapons. Maka's mother, Kami, was standing at the front and had been the one to speak; she was wielding Spirit. If she wasn't absolutely terrified, Maka probably would have been shocked.

"You forget, scary students from Shibusen, That I have you're precious Death Lord in captivity," Marcus growled at them as he grabbed Maka by the hair, hoisting her up painfully to stand beside him, she let out a soft cry as he tore the veil from her head, "and pretty little Maka." His voice dropped to a whisper as he pulled her closer to him, "I haven't kissed the bride yet," He opened his mouth slightly, a crazed grin threatening to plaster across his face. Maka's expression screamed panic, but that seemed to only please Marcus more.

"Let go of her," Soul growled, walking towards them, "You Bastard."

"You will not tell me what I can and can't do with my own _wife,_" Marcus took pleasure in the swelling rage in Soul's crimson eyes.

"Then I'll tell you what you can and can't do my _daughter_," Kami was suddenly behind him, her scythe at his throat, "And you _will _let go of her. Followed by telling us where the Death Lord is," Marcus paused for a moment before looking down at Maka,

"Well... if you insist," His nails dug in once more, this time to the back of Maka's neck as he lifted her like a rag doll. He swung her into Kami once, before throwing her the other way into the back of the church wall. Kami stumbled backwards, barely moving her Death scythe out of the way before cutting her daughter. Maka screamed only once before breaking through the brick of the wall behind her. She Heard Marcus' howling laughter, and then his bellowing call to his followers. In no time at all his minions would arrive and start hacking away at her friends and family...

"Maka!" Things were blurry. Everything seemed far away. She looked down at her wedding dress... once white and pristine was now blotched in blood and dirt. She lifted a hand to the back of her head where she felt a thick, stickiness in her hair. She winced at the blood pooling out from the wound. A few of her ribs were cracked that much she knew, and her shoulder was probably dislocated. She tried to sit but couldn't manage it. She could hear footsteps approaching and soon saw the white hair and red eyes she had missed more than anything kneeling over her,

"Soul." She said; just to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her,

"You idiot." Soul said quietly, his hand finding her face lightly, "You're such an idiot," He repeated as he reached under the small of her back and hoisted her up gently, she winced only slightly when her shoulder was jostled. He pulled her into his chest, using his other hand to prop of her head against his shoulder as they sat in a heap on the ground. She could hear the clang of weapons outside of the smoke left from the rubble

"Sorry," She breathed quietly, "I tried to save them,"

"When we get out of this, I'm yelling at you. A lot." Soul said softly, "You scared the shit out of me, and you're not dying now okay? You're not going to scare me anymore. Okay?"

"Okay," She tried desperately to remain conscience. She was where she had wanted to be for the last eight months: In the arms of Soul Eater Evans. And although the circumstances leading up to it were less than desirable, she refused to pass out now. There was so much more that she could do... But things were getting fuzzy, her eyes were rolling back into her head; she could feel lt.

"Maka," Soul breathed into her ear, "I'm going to kick this guy's ass now," Her hands dug in to the fabric of his shirt

"No," she wheezed, "No he's too strong," Soul moved slightly to prop her against the wall, removing his hands from her neck and back.

"Even if he wasn't a Kishin, Maka... You were going to marry him. He's dead," Soul pried her hands gently from his shirt,

"I did," Maka choked out, "I married him," A thick hot tear spilled over her cheek, filling Soul with even more resolve,

"Naw, doesn't count," he leaned back in towards her, grinning, "You didn't kiss," he paused for a moment, lingering at her face, and she let her eyes close. She could feel his warm breath for a few more moments before his pressed his lips gently against her own. It was so satisfying, she thought briefly that she could be imagining it, and just before she lost consciousness she heard that husky drawl once more,

"Maka... I love you,"

* * *

><p>She was unconscious. Probably a good thing in retrospect, Soul thought grimly. Finally revealing something so important to her as she passes out: reeeal cool, but he'd beat himself up about that later. He turned around, the dust had finally settled and he could clearly see the battle before of the pews had been busted up and pushed to the side of the room at some time during all the mayhem, leaving clearings where everyone was fighting. On the main platform, where the couple had stood, a group of familiar meisters surrounded Marcus. Kid had clearly taken some hits, he was bleeding down the side of his face, Kami was teetering a little, and kept shaking her head back and forth: something Maka frequently did to clear her vision after receiving a sharp blow. Stein was wielding Marie as he jumped towards Marcus, but was blocked by his forearm, and received a sharp knee to the stomach which sent him backwards, hunching over for a moment before regaining his footing. Most of the Shibusen students were fighting the Kishin's minions, and they all had their hands full. Tsubaki was self-wielding: something Soul had never seen her do before. Her arm was a black, sleek blade as she spun and swung at the smaller demons. Every now and then she would switch to another one of her weapon forms to fight off more of them. She was handling herself without her meister better than Soul would have thought. He rushed to Marcus, jumping vertically at him, his arm morphing into the black-red scythe.<p>

"Where are Black Star and Lord Death!" He yelled, his blade being caught in the palm of Marcus' hand.

"Dead." he laughed hysterically, tossing Soul to the ground. He skidded backwards across the ground, landing beside Stein; Soul looked up at him,

"His arms," Soul said flatly, Stein simply nodded in return. He then glanced at Kid who nodded, a grin spreading across his face. Kami looked at Stein before spinning the Scythe in her hands once delicately.

"Soul Resonance!" She shouted suddenly. The Four of them focused for a moment to feel each other's wave-lengths before tapping in fully. Kid launched forward, jumping and shooting from the air, Stein quickly jumped sideways, around Marcus' back while Soul and Kami ran headlong in, one from each side of him. Marcus reached up to block the incoming blasts from Kids newly transformed, and much larger Guns. He deflected the first blast but was too late; Kami caught him around his right shoulder with her Scythe as Soul caught the other. Marcus' eyes were huge as his arms fell from his body. Stein pounded into his back with the Hammer he wielded, sending him face first into the ground, sliding and skidding a few meters away. Marcus writhed on the ground, screaming and cursing. Each Meister stood at the ready as Soul sauntered over and placed his foot square against Marcus' chest, holding him to the ground.

"I'll ask again, this time less nicely since you tried to marry the only girl who means anything to me," Soul put his Scythed arm to Marcus' throat, "Where is Black Star and Lord Death," he growled through gritted, sharp teeth. Marcus snarled up at him,

"You'll kill me either way," He spat,

"That's true," Soul pushed the sharp metal of his arm against Marcus' throat, "But that'll be for _hurting _the same girl we mentioned earlier. Depending on your next few answers, you get to decided how painful your death ends up being. If you answer them correctly, and honestly, in this case it would be very painless," He glowered down at the Kishin.

"They remain in your precious school! Shibusen scum." Marcus narrowed his eyes, "Isn't it embarrassing? Knowing they stayed within your constant homestead? You can't even locate your precious Death Lord when he's right under your noses," Soul dug the metal in deeper to this throat.

"That's impossible," Stein said, standing over the two, "I would have detected their souls. Especially Lord Death. Unless..." He trailed off, lighting a cigarette. Marie morphed back into her human form,

"Don't smoke in a church!" She snatched it away before turning towards Kami and Kid, "Help the others hold back the rest! We're fine over here," The two nodded before darting off to kill the remaining Demons.

"Unless what, Professor?" Soul asked, his eyes still not leaving Marcus'

"Unless he some-how forced a Soul Concealer on them. But it would have to be the calibre of one of greatest witches in the world. Especially to conceal the Death Lords." Stein took out another cigarette,

"And Kishin's generally aren't born by themselves..." Marie looked up at Stein, her mouth pressed in a firm line,

"Clever, clever students of Shinigami," Marcus laughed again.

"Who created you then? Who's pulling the strings?" Soul roared down at him,

"Who _was, _you should ask. Poor thing, couldn't even handle her own creation," Marcus laughed humorlessly once more, "I consumed her soul the moment I was strong enough too. And yes, for those of you keeping track, it means I gain her spells and amplify them," The smile that was much to large widened to a sickening level as he gargled out more childlike laughter,

"That's all we needed to know." Soul straightened his body, "Your biggest mistake: you fucked with Maka," He raised his Scythed arm up, "Which means, you fucked with me," The Scythe came down in a spatter, Marcus' head rolled slightly away from his body as Soul stood up, stuffing his now human hands in his pockets,

"Gross," Marie said quietly, Stein just smiled down at her,

"You might want to leave then, the next part, sealing his soul, can get pretty messy," Stein laughed slightly at her horrified expression: she knew all too well of the necessary treatment. There appeared to be no smaller Demons left, which didn't surprise anyone, seeing as almost all of Shibusen just took them on. The weapons were back to human form, and most partners were high-fiving or catching their breath. Patty and Liz were affectionately glommed on to Death the Kid, cooing about how brave and wonderful he was for being the first to fight. Fighting all these trained professionals... Today was a bad move on Marcus' part, but it was a worse move on Maka's.

_What a baka. _Soul thought, _marrying a Kishin._ He couldn't help but smile morbidly, feeling slightly fulfilled after killing that guy.

"I'm getting Maka. Let's go home." He finally sighed.

* * *

><p>The heart monitor beeped obnoxiously. Maka squinted her eyes shut before they finally fluttered open. The room was dark and she suddenly felt her heart pound in her chest. The monitor picked up speed as she sat up quickly, only to find a sharp pain in her rips and shoulder. She winced audibly, and swore under her breath, unaware of her surroundings still, she tried to swing her legs out of bed, but was stopped,<p>

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, relax," Soul caught her legs and lifted them gently back under the covers,

"The Death Lord! Black Star! Where's Marcus?" Maka eyes searched the room frantically; everything was so foggy in her mind. Soul placed his hands on either side of her face, forcing him to look into his crimson eyes,

"It's okay- listen- stop struggling- Damn it Maka! They're fine!" She froze for a moment, her breathing in quick pants, "It's okay," he soothed, running his thumbs across her cheekbones lightly, "They're okay,"

"Where are they?" She said quickly, "Marcus?"

"Yeah.. He's dead," Soul released her and let her sink back into her pillow,

"How... Who-?"

"I told you I was going to kill him, and I did. End of story." he grinned but her eyes stayed wide, still filled with terror. Soul sighed, "Everyone is safe Maka, Black Star and the Death Lord were just hidden. Once we killed Marcus, the spell was finished. They were in Shibusen the whole time. And no one else is messed up, you're the worst hurt and you're not even that bad. Stop being so uncool," She let out a puff of air, knowing Soul was one of the only people she could actually trust to not leave out any important information she wanted to know. She smiled at him and much of the apprehension in his face left,

"Wait..." He said, leaning back in his chair slightly, "Aren't brides supposed to wake up all glowy and blushing and crap after their wedding night?" Soul smirked at her from his chair beside her hospital bed. The chair had been pulled from the wall to face her bed so he could sleep with his head resting on the mattress, a position she hadn't seen since he had left for his over-seas assignments. Mostly just because she hadn't done anything reckless during those times, she hadn't been 'bed-rest' hurt since the days when she and Soul took on big missions. Now she was just a meister trainer at DWMA. That was her temporary post, until she could find a more permanent weapon. The last weapon she took on a mission ended very badly: like, Kishin falling in love with her, kidnapping Lord Death to force her hand in marriage bad.

"Shut up," she settled on. She sat up, leaning her back against the bedframe painfully. She reached up to her face, searching for injuries.

"You're pretty beat up," Soul said slowly as Maka's fingers found the long bandage wrapped tightly around her head a few times, "Head, ribs, shoulder," Soul pointed to each section of her body as he explained the injuries, "You're fine. Just stay in bed, but actually stay in bed." He grinned toothily at her, she reciprocated easily,

"It's been a while since I've woken up in a hospital bed with you beside me," She laughed, but Soul's expression darkened,

"Don't say it like it's a good thing," he slumped further in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest

"I'm not," she said, prodding her ribs lightly, still investigating the damage, "I just missed you is all," Soul scoffed,

"Yeah, you were lonely enough to go and marry a Kishin," he said it with more malice then he meant to. Her eyes shot up to his face immediately.

"I had to do it."

"I'm sure."

"I couldn't have done anything else!"

"You could have fought him!"

"I didn't have a weapon!" Souls chair scraped across the floor loudly as he shot to his feet,

"Like I had a choice if I could leave or not! I'm a Death-Scythe now Maka! You think going away is easy for me? Leaving tears me apart! But I always told myself it'd be fine, you'll be safe, you won't do something stupid, you'll be waiting for me when I get back. Do you have any idea what it was like to hear you were getting _married?_" He kicked the chair forcefully, flipping it over and cursed, "And then, I had to sit there and watch you agree to it: agree to _marry_ some ass hole, and the whole time all I could think was-" He stopped suddenly, his eyes finally resting on Maka's face, her eyes watery, her heart monitor going crazy,

"'Could think was' what Soul?" She held back a sob as a tear spilled over, "How stupid I was? Why someone so powerful would want to marry a flat-chested, uncool girl like me? How much trouble I got everyone into?" Her sobs were escaping more regularly now, and she tried frantically to stop the piteous display,

"What? No!" Soul took a few quick steps so he was standing over her, "Are you _insane?"_

"Well then what! What were you thinking!" She yelled louder then she meant and paid for it when her ribs sent a jabbing pain through her body. She doubled over and gasped, clutching her torso. Soul knelt down in a split-second and straightened her,

"Shit." He pulled her upright and tightened the bandage quickly, "I'm sorry," He mumbled quietly as he wrapped the white cloth around her, "All I could think was..." He sighed, folding the fabric in on itself and slumping to sit on the edge of the mattress, looking at the ground, "It should have been... me,"

"What?" Maka asked, barely a whisper, she searched his face but he wouldn't meet her gaze. They sat in silence for a moment,

"You passed out early," Soul said, finally looking up at her. He had an expectant look in his crimson eyes, as if begging her to remember something she couldn't.

"Passed out? When? You mean at the-" Maka stopped suddenly, bringing her hand up to her mouth slowly, "Oh," she said softly. Soul ran a hand through his snow white hair, clearly distressed,

"Yeah. Sorry." He mumbled gruffly, "I promised I'd yell at you too... Now that that's taken care of," He turned towards her, his eyes intense. Her heart picked up the pace a little and Soul tried not to smirk, "Do you remember?" he leaned, his face only inches away from her own.

"Y-yes," Maka stammered, not sure how she was supposed to react,

"Maka," he said quietly, "I don't want to leave anymore... I've known for a while, but I didn't want to push you in to something you weren't ready for... When I found out you were getting married... I.-" he stopped for a moment, balling his hands into fists, fixing his gaze intently on the floor "I just-" He stopped when she placed her hand on top of his lightly. He looked up to see her smiling warmly at him,

"Soul," She murmured, fidgeting a little before getting the fiery look in her mossy green eyes he knew all too well as she almost shouted, "I-I'm in love with you!" They were silent for a moment as Soul stared at her deepening blush,

"Well then," Soul said, his lopsided grin widening as he leaned in, his mouth at her ear, "You probably shouldn't have married a bad-guy," he whispered huskily. Maka's mouth dropped open

As her hand located the spine of a book,

"MAKA CH-" her attack was interrupted by Soul's mouth catching her own, his hand quickly moved to her wrist and she dropped the book lightly on the floor, her eyes closing slowly as he leaned in and kissed her deeper. Their mouths moved together slowly but with meaning and purpose. All the years of pent up feelings being released in a single act of affection. She realised her hands were knotting through his hair lightly as Soul playfully bit her bottom lip, satisfied when he felt her mouth smile under his. He was balanced on his knees, one hand on her jaw, his fingertips in her hairline, lightly pulling her closer to him. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself towards him when she jerked her shoulder the wrong way,

"Ow ow ow," She winced, grabbing her shoulder in her other arm and trying to readjust it. Soul snickered,

"Sorry," He grinned down at her, standing up and putting the chair he had previously attacked back in its spot beside the bed. He slumped into it and Maka blushed,

"w-why are you sorry," She asked quietly, suddenly feeling insecure,

"About the shoulder?"

"Oh. Yes. Ohh, yeah that's okay,"

"What did you think I meant?" He raised an eyebrow at her flustered expression, again trying his best not to laugh,

"My arm, obviously,"

"You're such a bad liar," He laughed when she flushed deeper, "No, I'm not sorry for kissing you," He leaned his elbows on the mattress and rested his head on his hands, a playful smile on his lips,

"Soul?" Maka finally managed to squeak,

"Yeah?" He said, his eyebrows furrowing at her distraught expression,

"What did you mean... It should have been you?" She looked into his eyes and he froze for a moment before sighing in defeat,

"This is so uncool," he murmured, "Look; I don't want to freak you out,"

"Why would you do that?" Maka cocked her head to the side, her pigtails framing her face cutely,

"I just..." Soul gritted his teeth, "You can't marry someone who isn't me," he said it rather quickly, but slow enough for it to sink in,

"Oh."

"I'm not proposing or anything," Soul said, waving his hands in front of him, "I just mean... You know..."

"I won't," Maka said, smiling at him, "I don't want to marry anyone that isn't you either," She looked away blushing. Soul just grinned at her,

"Okay. Good." He stood up, "Now get some rest baka," She was about to protest until he leaned in and placed a warm, soft kiss on her forehead,

"Don't leave," She whispered, catching his hand as he leaned away from her,

"I won't," He laughed in the back of his throat quietly, "I'm not going anywhere without you. Including missions,"

"But, Shinigami-"

"Already agreed with you being my permanent meister," Soul sat on the edge of the bed once more, his hand resting gently on Maka's cheek. She looked at him for a few moments before grinning at him and grabbing a handful of his t-shirt, pulling him into a very indignant kiss. Soul laughed quietly,

"Go to sleep Maka," he said when she kissed him quickly again.

"Okay," She pouted but only for a moment. He made a motion to get up when she grabbed his hand, "Maybe..." She shifted over in the bed, "You could stay here, for a bit longer?" She flushed again when he gave her a look, "I don't mean like that I just-" he laughed again, this time louder and less restrained than usual,

"Yeah, but don't Maka-Chop me if I snore," he grinned, moving to sit beside her. He stretched his arm around and she snuggled in to his chest, breathing in his scent graciously,

"No promises," she said closing her eyes and yawning slightly,

"Maka?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled sleepily,

"I really do love you,"

"I know," She smiled and snuggled closer to him, "Thanks for saving me, Soul Eater,"

"Anytime," He chuckled and pressed his lips against the top of her head. She mumbled something he couldn't understand but after a short time her breathing became deep and steady. He looked down at her and whispered quietly, "I really am going to marry you someday."

She snored slightly,

"Tiny Tits,"

"MAKA-CHOP!"

* * *

><p><em>Well, there it is. Hopefully it's not too brutal; I'd love to hear what you think! <em>

_I know the last scene with the two of them dragged on a bit, especially when compared to the earlier scenes; but the two of them just got talking and they were both so damn afraid to say how they actually felt that there really was no stopping it. _

_Oh SoMa. One of my all-time favorite couples ever._

_Don't forget to review! Love you Guys!_


	2. Audacity

_Hey everyone! So since I wrote that last one-shot, I've decided to just write a series of Soul Eater one-shots with a carrying wedding theme :) _

_I hope you like this little series, and if you have any ideas or requests, feel free to leave them in a review :D _

_Thanks so much! _

_THIS IS AN AU! (My first AU I might add, but that's really not important)  
><em>

_Rated T for language. _

* * *

><p>Maka pulled her black heels on roughly at the ankle as she stumbled forward, cursing the footwear out loud. She was late. Straightening out her red tie roughly against the black, sleeveless dress shirt she wore, she grabbed her keys and slipped out the door of her apartment, pausing slightly to shoot her only roommate (a small black cat by the name of Blair) a goodbye glance. She almost tripped three times on the way down the stairs, cursing her work uniform each time. As if the heels weren't bad enough, but the too-tight red mini skirt she was required to wear made stairs an impossible endeavor for her. These wedding receptions just got more and more ridiculous. It used to just be 'show up to serve in whatever looked nice', but now the patrons generally demanded their serving girls matched not only each other, but the weddings colours. Maka shook her head angrily as she hurried outside the main doors of her complex. She spotted a familiar faded blue car parked in front of the court yard. She hurried over to it and swung the door open,<p>

"Hey Tsubaki," She sighed as she ducked into the car, "Sorry I'm late,"

Tsubaki wore the same thing as Maka, only made it look a thousand times better in Maka's opinion. Her developed 'assets' were to thank for that, she was sure.

"Not a problem at all!" She beamed down at Maka, turning the keys in the ignition, "We've still got lots of time,"

They arrived only a minute early, chatting lightly as they entered the large hall both girls were so familiar with. The hall looked alien to them as they wandered in however: the large swaths of red and black fabric draped from the ceiling, as well as the general décor was nothing like the two had ever seen. Maka knew this would be a long night.

"You're almost late," a familiar voice rang out from behind the bar, Maka cringed,

"Sorry," she said quietly, turning towards her boss: it wasn't that she was scared of her, despite her bandaged appearance and thick black dreadlocks, Nygus was actually the best boss ever. Maka just hated disappointing anyone,

"Well, almost late isn't late Nygus, so don't worry about it, right?" the head chef leaned out of the kitchen door, located just behind the bar and winked her un-eye patched eye at Maka. Nygus smiled at Marie before turning to Maka and Tsubaki,

"Just go run to the bathroom and tell Patty and Liz to hurry their shit, they found out whose wedding this was and decided they needed more makeup before they started serving this 'well to do' family, but the guests will be arriving any time now," Nygus scowled before punching something into the cash register. Maka nodded, rushing into the bathroom while Marie went over the courses being served for the reception with Tsubaki.

"Nygus says hurry," Maka said as she poked her head in the door,

"Oh, Maka! You're here!" Patty rushed towards her, smothering her in a tight hug, Maka laughed as Liz sauntered over,

"So you've heard whose family this is right Maka?" Liz bent down and whispered into her ear as Patty released her,

"No, but who in the hell chooses black and red for wedding colours?" Maka made a face, while Patty laughed.

"Maka, it's the Evans family," Liz said seriously, "As in, the God's of the music industry right now? Like, probably the most well off family in Death City, and certainly the most talented."

"Really?" Maka asked, sounding bored: she never really cared for the proud snobby type, she grew up with an absent mother and philandering father forcing her to provide for herself since she was fourteen. Now that she was nineteen and putting herself through university, she found those who had to do nothing (in her eyes, music was nothing) for their success a complete disgust to her. Maka never understood music, and that was probably why she considered making a career out of it not only a waste, but a joke as well. It had been a miracle Maka had gotten a job at such a suave and posh club in the first place, and if serving food and drinks to the rich meant getting paid more, she was fine with it.

"Yes Maka, Really," Liz looked serious, "and do you know what that means?" her look was intense,

"W-what does that mean?" Maka asked, suddenly uncomfortable,

"We can meet _BOYS!_" Patty jumped up and down giggling loudly as Liz beamed at her encouragingly,

"_Rich_ boys," Liz and her younger sister chimed together as they giggled. Maka rolled her eyes. A rich, man. That was probably the worst thing she could imagine. Maka's distaste from men started with her father, and continued with almost every man she ever met. Tack on being rich to her already horrible impression of men as a whole, and things just got repulsive to her.

"I'll pass," she mumbled as the sisters raved about their perfect men. Maka trudged back towards the bar, shooting Tsubaki an exasperated glance. Tsubaki smiled at her slightly, before telling her which tables she had been assigned to in her absence. Maka groaned,

"Head table? Are you serious?" She leaned against the bar, pleading with Nygas, "Please don't make me do head table, it's just not my night tonight,"

"Sorry Hun, you have to. Kim called in sick so I have to run the bar tonight: you've been working here second longest, so you get the most responsibility. You know that Maka, come on," She sighed as she finished punching in the last few details into the bar register. Maka groaned as she walked into the Kitchen to hear the menu. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>Soul Evans loosened his black tie roughly against his red dress shirt, tapping his foot against the hard marble of his family's large foyer. He shifted his weight, fidgeting unconsciously in his fitted pin stripe suit. Looking up at the grand staircase before him (also made of marble) he scowled, crossing his arms across his chest,<p>

"Wes! Get your ass down here!" he finally yelled up the stairs. It was bad enough his brother was getting married, but Soul was also given the (unfortunate, in his eyes) duty of being best man. Scuffing the ground with his foot again he glanced up at the big Grandfather clock propped gently against the wall. They were going to be late.

"What a drag." He muttered before trudging up the stairs. Leaving a girl at the altar was _definitely _not cool. He found Wes in his oversized room, fiddling with his snow white hair in the large mirror above his vanity. He messed it around in a similar manner that Soul would have, although Wes did it because he was concerned about his appearance, Soul did it when he was nervous,

"Yeah I'm coming Soul, relax a little," He smiled at his younger sibling. Straight, perfect teeth. Although he had given up caring a long time ago, Soul couldn't help but feel self-conscious of his sharp, jagged ones in such stark comparison.

"Well, you're late," Soul said, rolling his eyes and walking over to the Grand Piano situated at the far corner of the room. It was much more expensive than the one in Soul's room. Although Wes's instrument of choice was the violin, he was still far better at Piano then Soul, who poured all his efforts into it. He ran his fingers over the fallboard absent mindedly, "Planning on leaving your girl to walk up the isle to no one?" Wes snorted a laugh,

"No, but I don't want to disappoint her," he paused for a moment before adding, "Or mother and father for that matter," Satisfied with his hair, he started straightening his tie. Soul scoffed quietly,

"Yeah, wouldn't want to let down Mummy and Daddy," He scowled, saying their titles with as much venom as possible. Wes just smirked,

"God Soul, if you don't get rid of that rain cloud over your head you're going to ruin the wedding: Outdoor ceremony and all," He turned to face his younger brother whose scowl grew deeper, "Come on, let's go," he sighed as Soul stuffed his hands roughly into the pockets of his dress pants and strode out of the room quickly.

"Yeah, whatever," Soul muttered, hurrying down the stairs, Wes following behind him slowly. This was a new habit of Wes's that Soul couldn't stand: making the world wait for him. His recent musical success had not only gotten him piles of money and a new girlfriend (soon to be wife), but had also given him the pride and arrogance of a true Evans. Soul wanted to gag. This whole day was turning out to be the nightmare he knew it would be.

The ceremony was overdone. Everything was overdone when it came to his family. Soul stood awkwardly under the large canopy of flowers, fabric and lace that his mother had designed for the outdoor wedding. He tried desperately not to encourage one of the blonde bride's maids who was staring at him alluringly (or at least _trying_ to) from across the alter. His brother beside him, everyone stood as the bride rounded the corner and began waltzing down the aisle. Soul rolled his eyes at her huge dress, the train going ten feet behind her. It wasn't that he hated her, he just didn't know her. He was pretty sure Wes didn't' know her either. Her name was Rosette and she was the only daughter of Death City's real estate tycoon Richard Harriet. This marriage would work nicely for both families, and Wes was all about things working nicely when it came to money and impressing his parents. Soul swore he'd never get married if it meant his family picking the girl.

She made it to the front after what seemed like an eternity and the minister (Soul thought he remembered his name was Justin or something like that) began reading the vows. Soul yawned outright, resulting in a hushed whisper of distaste from his mother in the first pew. He simply met her glare by grinning a drooling, lopsided smile her direction and then watched lazily as the ceremony continued. His eyes wandered once, to one of his only friends who were invited to the wedding: Death the Kid sat three rows back and smiled at Soul when he made eye contact. Being the son of the mayor granted him an invitation, he's polite and social personality sealed that for the Evan's family, but he's real and 'no-bullshit' attitude made him a good guy in Soul's eyes. He was glad _someone _he didn't hate was here.

He thought he was going to be sick when the couple kissed awkwardly, Wes smiling artificially out at the crowd. Rosette was beautiful, in that overdone-question what parts of her body were purchased- kind of way. Soul smirked at the thought as the couple traipsed down the cobblestone aisle waving happily to their guests as rose petals were released to float down among the crowd.

* * *

><p>"They're <em>here!"<em> Liz squealed happily as the girls proceeded to line up, a standard when greeting the guests. Maka groaned and shot Tsubaki a look,

"Let's just get this over with," She mumbled.

The guests poured in to the room as each of the girls smiled and welcomed them. The wedding was huge, much larger than they usually hosted but this _was _the nicest venue in town and in retrospect, the mother of the groom had arranged and paid professionals from New York or someplace like that to come and do all the décor as well as the food. The girls were just there to serve and Marie was just there to overlook. The guests piled in, commenting wildly on the beautiful setting before the MC of the night grabbed their attention to introduce the head table. Maka held her breath, praying they wouldn't be as snobby as promised.

They were. Each came in an overdone, elegant manner that make Maka want to scowl. All but one at least, the youngest Evan's as he was introduced trudged in and hurried to the table, not even waiting for the MC to finish his usual introduction. He plopped himself down at the table and leaned on his hand looking bored.

The evening began with dinner. The main thing Maka noticed, besides the general air these people seemed to carry around them, was their appearance. Both sons in the Evan's family had stark white hair, resembling that of their mother, despite the jet black hair of their father. Furthermore, the youngest one, whose name escaped Maka at the moment had crimson red eyes that she had to force herself from staring into as she introduced herself to them. His father was the other with red eyes, but they weren't nearly as intense as the sons. The groom had blue eyes, similarly to his mother but the jagged teeth she saw on the youngest; she couldn't place anywhere. He was handsome. The bride's family was utterly normal (for a rich family); she had too many brides' maids (as Maka assumed there would be) and each wore a fitted red dress, tight, short and strapless. The blonde one seemed very interested in the youngest Evans

She took their food order, leaving him for last.

"And what can I get you?" she tried to sound cheery as she stood over him. He glanced at her briefly,

"You can get me the fuck out of here," he growled at her huskily. A response she had not warranted,

"I-I'm sorry?" She stammered. He just smirked up at her,

"A beer would be _great_," He grimaced a smile at her, and she gritted her teeth: just the same as the others: Snobby and rude.

"Well, I'm asking what you would like to _eat _since I've already brought you three beers and you've been sitting here for only half an hour," she said it more rudely then she meant to. He looked shocked for a moment before smirking, he was about to speak when the blonde bridesmaid (who had conveniently switched spots with another in an obvious attempt to be closer to him) spoke up,

"Excuse me? Do you know who this is?" She asked, her eyes narrowed, "He's Soul Evan's. And in case you didn't get that, let me say it again; EVAN'S," she looked pleased with herself as she turned to Soul. Maka tightened her grip on her pen,

"I don't care who he is," She hissed, "I'm wondering about food," she hoped she wouldn't be fired for this. Soul looked at the blonde for a moment then back to Maka,

"Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Angela!" The blonde blurted out, Soul glared at her,

"No, _not _you," he looked up at Maka, "you." Her shoulders sagged slightly, knowing that once she told him she'd probably be complained about to Nygas,

"It's Maka," she mumbled

"Cute," he said, his eyes lightening slightly. He seemed to actually smile a little, "I like it." Maka and Angela both blinked, incredulous.

"O-oh, thanks," Maka mumbled awkwardly, her cheeks reddening. She now _definitely _wanted to run away. Soul smirked before leaning back,

"Chicken,"

"Pardon me?"

"… I'll have the chicken?"

"Oh. OH! Yes, yes right away!" Maka fumbled back to the kitchen with her order list and burst through the doors. What was going on with her?

She made it through dinner, somehow. Between the bride not liking the food especially (and making her sentiments _known frequently_), the mother of the groom raving non-stop about her work on the décor and general splendor, the blonde (Angela, Maka thought it was) giving her the dirtiest looks imaginable and the youngest Evan's; Soul, making what seemed to be advances: Maka was exhausted. She had successfully served the starters, the two main dishes and the desert. All that remained was the dancing and entertainment segments of the night, where it became all the server's main duties to waltz around the guests with trays of drinks or pastries or chocolates or whatever other ridiculous food the Evan's demanded.

The tables of people were dismissed, as some other hired décor staff moved the tables to previously planned spaces, making the already respectable dance floor much more grand and overwhelming. Suddenly, thousands of twinkling lights turned on underneath the swaths of fabric, a large and expensive disco ball was lowered, as well as professional ballroom lighting. Maka's eyes grew wide as a very large platform was wheeled in by eight men. On this platform was an orchestra of sorts: it was too small to be in a symphony, but _much_ too large to be considered a band. Maka rolled her eyes. The orchestra began playing soft music as it was time for the bride and grooms first dance. Maka stood by the bar, watching the various guests come up for their drinks. Of course it was open bar, if the family had money enough to rent this hall, they had money for an open bar. Tsubaki slipped into the kitchen, catching Maka by the wrist and dragging her along with her.

"What the-" Maka almost tripped over her heels as Tsubaki looked at her urgently,

"Maka," She breathed, "I think… well… that is, Patty and Liz told me to tell you that… I mean, it's just…" She rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably,

"What? Just say it before Mrs. Evans lops of my head for standing back here," Maka rolled her eyes,

"I think that Soul Evans has been hitting on you all night!" The words rushed out quickly as Maka's face turned a few shades redder.

"He is _not_," She whispered harshly, dragging Tsubaki out the door and back to the party, "And don't let anyone else catch you talking like that or you'll be fired for sure!"

"O-oh, you're right," Tsubaki flushed as they stood beside the bar, "Forgive me Maka, I didn't mean to be rude," She scuffed the ground a little,

"No," Maka sighed, "it's fine. I'm just a little—"

"Hey," Maka froze, interrupted by the very man they had been discussing. She hadn't noticed him leaning causally against the bar, that stupid smug grin on his face. Maka turned to him slowly,

"Y-yes?" She stammered, "What can I get for you?" She glanced at Tsubaki who gave her a knowing smile before fetching a tray of drinks and disappearing into a crowd.

"Someone with a brain who I can actually talk to," He yawned, stretching his arms out about him causally. Maka couldn't help but notice just how sharp his teeth were, and found herself amazed at how interested she was in them, "And look, I found one," he grinned as he took a step towards her.

"Well," she said, trying to get herself out of this situation, "What about the bridesmaids? They all seem—"

"Oh cut the crap, I'm not going to get you fired for being honest. You hate them." He smirked at her knowingly, his crimson gaze scrutinizing her. She couldn't help but feel irritated,

"Okay fine," She gritted, "They're obnoxious," She glanced over her shoulder guilty, as Soul snorted a laugh. The guests were all gathered around the newlywed couple as they spun elegantly around the dance floor, Maka's eyes focused on them for a moment. She jumped when she felt Soul's breath at her ear,

"And why," he purred, causing a shiver to run down her spine. Again she hadn't heard his silent movement toward her. She froze and blinked twice as he leaned away, looking at her face, his trademark smirk on his lips. Suddenly, Maka snapped out of it, her anger taking the place of her shock,

"Because they're snobby and stuck up and rich and—and…" She trailed off when she realized all these things were probably true about Soul as well. She felt something tighten in her gut when he full out grinned at her,

"I like you," He said, brushing the bangs out of her eyes slightly, again surprising her; a blush creeping to her cheeks. He laughed, "You're all sorts of cool," and before Maka could find her voice, he walked swiftly to the dance floor where the whole wedding party was dancing, uninterestedly took the maid of honors hand and begun the elegant waltz the group was completing.

* * *

><p>The dance finished and Soul nodded dully at the maid of honor who thanked him lavishly for the dance. His eyes scanned the crowd for the serving girl he had grown so fond of. He couldn't locate her and puffed out a breath of air frustrated; he'd have to find her again. He was still slightly annoyed that he had had to cut their conversation short, but facing his mother's wrath about missing the only dance he was required to do didn't seem worth it.<p>

He was pretty sure he might be wrong about that though.

He leaned casually against the wall of the room as the other guests began dancing to the music. Soul had to admit, the selection was pretty good; he was mildly impressed. Of course the music for the night _had _to be superb. It _was _the Evan's family after all, and the orchestra was hand-picked by his father; made up of only his best students. They had practised for this night intensively.

"This is a beautiful event," Soul turned to see Death the Kid, leaning against the wall beside him,

"Yeah, that's what it is," he responded sarcastically,

"No, really, the symmetry of this room is positively magnificent," Kid raved, taking in the perfection of it all. Soul snorted derisively,

"Well I'm glad you like it," He turned to Kid who merely smirked back,

"You really hate all this huh?"

"Not all of it," Soul admitted. Kid raised an eyebrow,

"No? Then what—" Kid noticed that Soul was staring at the head tables serving girl as she smiled politely at an older gentleman, genuinely laughing when he made a remark about her hair as it would seem, as he reached up and tugged one of her pigtails. She beamed at him before offering him whatever was on the platter she was holding, "Ohh," Kid said knowingly; Soul shrugged and grinned in return.

"Whatever," He said, tapping his finger against the wall absent mindedly.

"Well," Kid said, standing up straight, "I've made quite friendly with the twin waitresses, if you need my assistance, which I'm quite sure you won't, you know where I'll be," He smiled at Soul before wandering off to the group of dancers, making small talk with his father's colleagues. Soul watched as Maka wandered back the bar, looking out the dancing couples. He sauntered over to her, but this time she saw him coming,

"Would you quit it?" She hissed at him as he approached,

"Quit what?"

"Talking to me!"

"Why should I do that?" Soul raised a brow at her when she flushed again,

"Because," She said piling more drinks onto her tray, "It looks like I'm not working and…"

"…And?" He encouraged. She furrowed her brows,

"And your family would _really _hate you telling someone like _me_, that you _like _me or… whatever. I don't even know you!" She paused for a moment, and Soul got another look at those deep green eyes; they were perfect. He couldn't help notice her long slender legs and cute pig-tailed hair. He grinned at her wickedly,

"So then let's get outta here,"

"N-no! Did you not just hear anything I said?" She started walking into the crowd of people, but Soul followed closely,

"Yeah, if you're gone no one will have to see you 'not working' which I'm honestly starting to believe is just physically impossible for you," He grabbed her wrist gently and turned her towards him, "And you wouldn't be freaked out by my family." She pulled her wrist away, stepping in boldly towards him,

"I'm not 'freaked out' by your family," She said, nose to nose with him, "They just don't seem… nice," They were surrounded by people, but they might as well have been alone,

"That's because they're _not _nice," Soul said quietly, still smirking at her, "But if you won't get out of here with me," He murmured, his hand slowly removing the tray from her hands, all the while keeping intense eye-contact with her, and placing it on the table right beside him, "I'll have to convince you I'm not so bad _here," _His hand moved to her waist, while the other captured her hand. He brought I up gently and pulled her into him,

"What are you _doing?"_ Maka hissed trying to escape the dancing position he had her in,

"I'm dancing with you, what does it look like?" He blinked stupidly,

"I'm _no one_, everyone's going to see," she blushed but followed his lead as they waltzed together slowly, the orchestra leading them through a beautiful musical build. Soul chuckled, bringing her in closer to him,

"Liar," he muttered into her ear, "I know you're not no one,"

* * *

><p>The night had somehow ended. She wasn't sure exactly when or exactly how but she spent the rest of the night serving in a complete blur. After her unconventional dance with Soul she met with a very angry blonde bridesmaid as well as some very excited Thompson sisters. The party lasted all night, and Soul followed her around a fair bit, teasing her, making her laugh: she had grown increasingly fonder of him as the night went on, so needless to say, when he left without even saying Goodbye with the rest of the wedding party, she was more than a little sad.<p>

Maka was staying to help count the till and deal with the dishes as always. Her attitude had been on a rollercoaster all night, but had settled on gloomy with the prospect of never seeing Soul again looming over her head. It wasn't as if someone like her could just walk right up the Evan's mansion and buzz them

_Hello, I'm that random girl who served at your wedding, Soul seemed nice, we danced awkwardly you might remember: Could you send him out?_

Maka frowned, shutting the till and writing the number on the pad of paper beside it. She plopped down onto the stool and buried her head in her folded arms on the bar. Tsubaki had left; Maka would need to call a cab unless she wanted to stay even _later _and help Nygas finish up instructing the cleaning.

As she toyed with this thought she heard the front door close quietly, she sat up groggily and glanced over to the noise. Her mouth fell open and she must have done a quadruple take, or maybe her eyes were just bulging out of her head as the snowy haired, red eyed, jagged tooth Evan's sauntered over to her, a motorcycle helmet under his arm. He grinned at her,

"Sorry that took so long," he said, sitting down beside her, "I had to go back with them to grab my bike," Maka's mouth still hung open, so he waved his hand in front of her face, "Uhh, did I break you or something?" he asked

"You came back?" She whispered,

"Yeah," He said, as if stating the obvious,

"To drive me home?"

"Yeah…"

"You came back, to _drive me home?_"

"… Have you been drinking or something?" Soul leaned in to smell her breathe suspiciously, but was met with Maka throwing her arms around his neck unceremoniously,

"You didn't have to do that! I thought you were gone and that I wouldn't see you again," She admitted, releasing him. He blushed a little,

"That would be totally uncool," He murmured as she beamed at him. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Okay, whatever, let's get outta here." He stood up and she followed quickly,

"Okay," She grinned, a warmth she hadn't felt before filling her,

"Alright my bikes just outside," Maka stopped,

"Wait…" She said, looking at the helmet, "You're _BIKE?"_

Soul grinned wickedly,

"Let's go," he grabbed her hand and dragged her outside, her protesting his constant companion the entire way home.

He really did quite like this Maka.

And truthfully, she was rather fond of Soul, even if he _was _an Evans.

* * *

><p><em>Well, there you have it! I hope you like this! I started it a while ago, but now that school is on break I FINALLY finished it.<br>_

_Don't forget to Review! I love to hear what you thought!  
><em>

_Love you guys! _


	3. Intolerable

_Hey guys! Sorry this took forever to update, I'm trying my best to get stuff out, but University is just death._

_Hopefully the super long length of this one makes up for it!_

_Anyway: hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review!_

_Intolerable._

* * *

><p>"Shit!" Maka said, dropping the paper that had just sliced into her index finger. Who knew opening the mail could be such a hazard. She stared at the little cut only for a moment before snatching the envelope back up from the kitchen counter. Her eyes scanned the gold leafed invitation a few times, smiling slightly to herself,<p>

"What's that?" Maka jumped, she had felt Soul's soul pressure when he entered the house, but didn't notice him walk into the kitchen.

"You scared me!" She huffed. Soul raised an eyebrow: that never happened anymore. After living together for years Maka had become accustomed to Soul's every behavior, and vice versa.

"Sorry?" He offered. They held each other's gaze for a moment before Soul's eyes shifted down to the invitation in her hands, "So…?"

"Oh! Right! Tsubaki and Black Star's wedding invitation!" She chirped. Soul's eyebrows furrowed,

"Well that was fast," he murmured, sauntering over and carefully taking the invitation, "Didn't they _just _get engaged?"

"Five months ago," Maka wandered over to the sink and absently turned the tap on, seeing some dishes that could be tackled, "Not that long ago," Soul blinked at the back of her head from across the room,

"Seems pretty soon to me," He tossed the invitation onto the counter, "Why the rush?"

"Maybe they just want to be married: they've been dating for like two or three years," she shut off the tap and began scrubbing the pasta pot from the night before,

"Yeah, and they were all over each other all of high school too," Soul chuckled. Maka merely hummed in agreement, the topic wearing on her a little. Talking about weddings was getting tiresome. She had only had a few boyfriends her whole life, and Soul had scared all of them away, but she didn't understand why. She and Soul had never been an official item. Of course there were times when things seemed more then platonic: like when she would crawl sheepishly into his bed after a nightmare, or when he'd hold her in his arms for just a little while too long to just be friends. These instances seemed to be happening more frequently, but neither of them had any sort of verbal confrontation about _feelings_. She wished they had.

"Maybe," Soul had snuck up on her again, his mouth at her ear, "She's knocked up," Maka jumped and swatted him away as he chuckled loudly,

"She's _NOT_!" Maka hissed, splashing him a little, "They're just in love, idiot!" Soul snickered again, stuffing his hands into his pockets,

"Trust me, I know." Soul smirked as Maka made a 'tsk' noise,

"Besides, why aren't you in the wedding party again? Didn't Black Star ask you to be? I mean, you _are_ best friends," She leaned against the counter thoughtfully as Soul scoffed.

"God's!" he impersonated the blue haired assassin, "Do not have best men! They _are _the best men around! Ha ha ha!" Soul rolled his eyes as Maka giggled,

"That impression's getting better," she laughed,

"Don't remind me," Soul made a face, "I've been spending too much time with the idiot,"

"Apparently," she hummed happily,

"So what about you, maid of honour huh? Pretty big responsibility," He joked has he pulled one of her pigtails affectionately,

"Oh," Maka smiled, "I've done absolutely nothing this far. Tsubaki's mother and father are handling everything. Her mother told her I'd just be in the way," She laughed a little,

"Well, better for you I guess," Soul shrugged wandering over to the counter and leaning against it.

Maka smiled before going back to scrubbing the dishes. He watched her for a moment, "You know," he finally said, "The invitation says we can both bring a plus one." Maka froze, her eyes wide as she stared intently at the water,

"Plus one, huh?" She said a little shakily, resuming slowly her previous chore. Soul's eyes narrowed, noting the obvious panic from this idea,

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck trying to look casual, "So, who you gonna' bring?" Maka stopped briefly again before shrugging. She knew that the fact he was asking meant he already had a girl he wanted to ask in mind. Maka's stomach tied into a tight knot at the thought of watching Soul dance with some bubbly platinum blonde all night. She sighed heavily,

"I don't know, probably no one," she shrugged, but her eyebrows stayed furrowed.

"Huh," Soul stared at her as she worked for a while until she was finished the dishes and sighed heavily again,

"Soul, you can bring whoever you want, it's _Fine,_" She hadn't meant to say it with so much venom, Soul snorted a laugh,

"Yeah, that's _obviously_ how you feel," he chuckled when she spun around angrily,

"You can! I don't care!"

"Noted." He was being sarcastic again.

"Okay fine, I'll bring Kilik or Hiro," Soul's expression fell a little,

"Kilik's already going, you don't need to _bring _him," he mumbled. Maka rolled her eyes; exasperated,

"Okay, than Hiro."

"He's probably invited too,"

"Then _who? _Do you want me to bring Giriko or something?"

"You need to get out more," Soul smirked but Maka could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She knew that Soul was more social then she was, she could usually just brush him off when he teased her about it, but with Soul being more and more sought after by the scads of girls running after him: it hurt Maka a little more. She sucked in a breath and trudged out of the kitchen briskly. Just before she left she stopped for a moment and turned towards him,

"They don't have to be my plus one, Soul, but I'll still go as someone's date. I wouldn't want to make you feel guilty about whoever you brought if I was alone: I know how 'uncool' you say it is to be the third wheel or whatever, especially as the maid of honour!" She hurried to her room and slammed the door, leaving Soul in the kitchen with his eyes wide and his jaw slightly dropped.

They didn't talk about it much after that, every time Soul brought it up, Maka would storm out of the room. He didn't mean to upset her, despite her belief, he wasn't at all amused by her anger. In fact he found it quite infuriating himself. Yes, it was true that he used to torture her with snide remarks about her chest or pigtails or fat ankles, and the rise he got out of her made it all the more fulfilling: but something had changed in him recently. Maybe it was just that he was growing up, maybe he better understood the importance of the Meister-Weapon bond they shared, maybe Black Star (the biggest idiot he know) getting married made him realize things about his life he'd otherwise not thought of: either way, those long legs and green eyes were really making him sweat. Somehow, his rough personality kept screwing things up, especially when it came to this upcoming wedding.

"I heard she already asked Hiro to take her," Black Star said loudly through his mouth full of burger, "Tsubaki won't stop talking about details, details, details, and Gods don't give a rat's ass about such things! Everyone should be coming to MY wedding!" He laughed loudly before taking another bite of his burger. Soul glared at him,

"She already asked him? Damn it, he should have at least asked her!" He growled, crumpling up the packaging from his already consumed burger, "That guys an asshole,"

"No, he's just a little bitch is all," Black Star finished his burger, grinning at Soul, "Just ask her to go with you!"

"I can't,"

"You need the great Black Stars help!" Black Star stood on the table in the middle of the restaurant and fist pumped the air, "With my help you'll get in Maka's pants in no time! I am the God of women, just check out how hot my fiancé is!" He shouted a YAHOOO! Before Soul grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down,

"Listen, there's a reason your initials are 'BS'" He gritted, "Don't go running around doing something stupid."

"It's not my problem you're a coward," Black Star shrugged before leaning back in his chair, placing his feet on the table. Soul just sighed, "Oh right, Tsubaki wanted me to tell you to take Jacqueline,"

"Keh, Jackie? No thanks." Soul grumbled,

"Come on, she's hot. Just ask her out; you're both weapons,"

"She's like part witch isn't she?" Soul glared at Black Star as he shrugged,

"Whatever! Don't make me tell Tsubaki I _still _haven't found a stupid date for Jackie. I made her a God's promise! Be a pal, Soul! Besides, Maka's going with Hiro anyway; do you want to be alone all night?" He eyed Soul, obviously trying to convince him. Soul sighed heavily before grumbling,

"Fine, whatever, I'll go with her,"

"Sweet!" Black Star fist pumped, "Hey, who knows," He waggled his eyebrows, "Maybe you'll get lucky," He guffawed as Soul tried to punch his lights out.

Soul had begrudgingly called Jackie later that day, and put on his best 'I'm interested' voice for her; it definitely wasn't cool to make a girl think he was settling for her: even if he was. To his surprise, she was overjoyed. Apparently the fact that Kim was going with Ox made Jackie feel a little lonely; she and her meister did everything together, down to the way they dressed but boys were (thankfully) a different story.

Tsubaki was stressed about the wedding; her mother was planning everything, and her father's bottomless wallet was providing the rest. It was obvious they wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for their daughter, whom was not only their pride but due to her brother's death: their only child. This only heightening the bond they previously shared. Maka's only duties were to be with Tsubaki and reassure her, something Maka did easily as they had been best friends since their first day at Shibusen. Liz and Patty were the other two bride's maids, but Black Star had no wedding party: something Tsubaki's mother was very angry about. Luckily, her father found Black Star's antics amusing as well as respectable. He commended the assassins' confidence, which quite frankly he could back up with his ability. Tsubaki's father and Black Star had gotten along from the very moment they met: two great assassins discussing all things weapon and meister. They had both been in heaven. Naturally the wedding came as great news to the entire Nakatsukasa family, even if it meant their pride and joy changing her last name to Suta.

The day of the wedding really was perfect. It was sunny and warm, Tsubaki's flowing wedding dress made her look like a Goddess as she walked up the floral isle towards her future husband. Maka beamed at her from under the canopy of linens as she stood beside the traditional Japanese Shinto, but couldn't help but let her smile falter when her gaze shifted to Soul, dressed in an attractive black suit, a skinny red tie loosely around his neck, Jackie clutched to his arm in the second row. She gritted her teeth and broke Souls gaze, focusing back on Tsubaki. That was when Soul for sure knew he had made a mistake.

The wedding really was a perfect combination of western tradition with Japanese (to keep Mr. Nakatsukasa happy of course). Although Tsubaki wore a white, western gown, Maka, Liz and Patty all wore pink and blue and Kimonos, with Camellia blossom bouquets (whom Tsubaki was named after). Black Star was surprising well behaved; something that only Tsubaki could get him to do. He beamed at her the whole time, and didn't make any rude outbursts at all. It made Maka happy knowing that Black Star actually let the entire day be able Tsubaki, and not himself. It really cemented their relationship in her eyes.

They said their vows, and as tradition requires, drank Saki. Liz cried when they kissed. Black Star held Tsubaki's face lovingly and grinned down at her as she blushed. Maka beamed at Patty and Liz,

"It is now my honour," the Pastor said, "To introduce to you: Mr. and Mrs. Suta!" Everyone erupted in applause, standing to their feet. Black Star let out his first characteristic,

"_YAHOOOO"_ of the day. He grabbed Tsubaki's hand as they ran down the centre aisle, through the rice and petals being thrown into the air, leaving the audience to laugh at the couples strange and obvious affections. Patty bounced up and down as she clapped childishly and Liz blew a kiss to Kid who winked back at her from the second row through all the chaos. Maka smiled after Tsubaki but did her very best to not make eye contact with her snowy haired partner, whose crimson gaze was locked on her, studying her for everything she had.

She was beautiful. He couldn't help but notice. He knew he was supposed to be looking at Tsubaki, or even listening to Jackie as she whispered hushed, "awwws!" and made remarks about the general beauty of the day. Soul didn't care. He just grunted in approval and tried his best to ignore her hand on his arm, and then later on his thigh, when he actually moved and told her to cut it out. Jackie was too much. He hoped that when she got some time with Kim later she'd relax. He knew she was only acting like that because she wanted a guy; any guy, so she could do coupley stuff with Kim and Ox. Soul hadn't forgotten his own fortune and Kim's obvious obsession with it. He was sure this opinion spilled over into Jackie as well. Sure, Jackie was good looking, had it been four or five years ago he'd probably be overjoyed by her advances, even if he could just exploit them for one night. He was sure that was the angle she was playing at anyway. But things were different now, he thought as he watched Maka fidget uncomfortably under his gaze, things were different because now he had Maka. Even though he didn't. She tugged at the bottom of her hair, straight, pinned back from her face, but cascading down her neck attractively. It was killing Soul that she wasn't his tonight.

She walked down the aisle, following Liz and did her very best to ignore Soul, but she glanced at him briefly. The toothy grin she got from him made her blush and turn away quickly. Soul just chuckled. The wedding party piled into the second limo and headed off to the reception.

"Soul," Jackie said, clutching his arm again, "Let's get out of here," her eyes lidded suggestively. He puffed out a sigh,

"Yeah, to the reception," he said, trying not to smirk when her look darkened, believing to be misunderstood,

"You want to see Kim, right?" He said, sounding innocent.

"O-of course!" She chirped, the idea making her grin. Being with Kim would brighten the day considerably. His eyes narrowed as he saw Hiro stumble out from one of the pews, heading out the door. Soul hurried after him, Jackie on his heels: he wanted to get there before Hiro did.

Of course the reception was overdone. There were flowers everywhere, the tables seated about eight people each, and all had grand red, blue and purple centerpieces positioned beautifully in the middle. Around each was a glass moat of water, where little goldfish swam delicately through. The dance floor was just as grand, and a thin layer of artificial smoke was covering the floor nicely. Purple and red lights were glowing all around the room: hanging from the ceiling, the walls, everywhere.

It was perfect by everyone's standards.

The guests arrived in a timely manner and everyone watched with anticipation as the wedding party was introduced. Black Star finally started acting like the idiot everyone knew he was when he was introduced. Walking in and gesturing grandly, drawing attention and laughing like a crazy person. He did stop for a bit and let Tsubaki have her moment, but she just spent the whole time giggling at Black Star. Maka entered and rolled her eyes at them: at least _someone _found him amusing.

The bride's maid's kimonos had been replaced with deep purple cocktail dresses, short but elegant of course, as they all took their seats at the head table and dinner was served.

How unfortunate for Hiro, sitting across the table from Soul Eater Evans on such a night. Jackie was beside Kim and Ox, Kilik and Kid (Luckily for Soul) sat with them also. Hiro was an idiot. Soul couldn't understand why everyone liked him so much,

"So then I told them it wasn't even worth it; _and they walked away!"_ Hiro finished his story and everyone at the table laughed: apart from Soul.

"Hiro," Soul said as condescendingly as he could muster, "Again we see the _brilliance _and _pure magnitude _of your absolute pussy—I mean peacefulness. Bravo." Hiro's eyes narrowed but Jackie laughed harshly,

"Soul," Kid said, his voice warning,

"What?" Soul sounded innocent,

"Just… watch it, okay?" Kid gave him a look,

"I was just commenting on how brave and—" Soul started

"Listen Eater" Hiro cut him off, "I know why you're so aggravated on this fine evening," He said smartly,

"Oh God," Soul chuckled darkly, "Please, _enlighten me,_"

"Well, I don't want to offend anyone; you know I'm not about that!" Hiro grinned when Kim and Jackie both sighed, almost lovingly. Ox noticed.

"Oh no, never! Offending someone?" Soul pretended to gasp, "Gosh Gee Hiro! How could I— it's just- I mean, you could just: go fuck yourself." Ox and Kilik sniggered as Kid shook his head,

"Annnd there it is. Good old Soul..." Kid murmured to himself.

"Well then, I guess it's okay then," Hiro leaned across the table, "I know you're upset because Maka chose _me _over _you_," he leaned back, his arms folded across his chest looking proud. Soul felt his blood begin to boil as he gripped the table. Jackie gasped,

"Is that _true _Soul?" She said, "Was I your second pick?" She sounded hurt which pissed Soul off even more,

"No, it's not true." He gritted, "Maka didn't choose anyone. She _settled _for Hiro."

"Well, that's certainly not how things appear is it?" Hiro grinning as Soul stood to his feet harshly, his chair scraping behind him noisily as he slammed his hands down on the table. Kid jumped to his feet quickly,

"You know what Hiro! You can just—" Soul stopped suddenly when he realized the whole room had gone quiet and was now staring at him. Kid was whispering hushed threats for him to sit down, telling him he was making a scene. Soul's eyes darted to the head table, where Maka was watching him, fury building in her eyes. He knew he was in for it. He slumped down into his chair and mumbled a, "Just kidding," to the room before downing his drink as well as Jackie's.

This was _not _going according to plan, and it was definitely _not _cool.

Now Maka was overjoyed she had Hiro for her date and not Soul. It took everything in her not to run over the table and Maka Chop him into next Sunday when he started yelling at Hiro across the table. She felt furious and frankly, a little curious as to what Hiro had said to get such a rise out of her laid back partner. She tried not to think about it as she enjoyed the rest of the dinner with Patty, Liz and Tsubaki. She tried desperately not to look over that table that Soul and Jackie were sitting at together, but she couldn't shake the tight, nauseous feeling she got in her stomach whenever her mind wandered over to them.

So. Soul liked Jackie all along. Maka was surprised, but not significantly. Jackie was pretty, and she was much less of a prude then Maka was. The thought filled her with rage, but it was true. Jackie knew how to deal with men; she knew how to be in relationships. Maka didn't.

Either way, looking at the table made her feel sick. She put on her best happy face, but the night was really wearing on her.

Dinner finished and the dance floor was opened up. Maka dreaded this part. The bride and groom would have the first dance, as tradition, and then dance with their parents. But then the wedding party was supposed to dance with their dates in front of everyone. Maka didn't _want _to dance with Hiro. She didn't want to dance at all, but she knew she owed to Tsubaki. Hiro came and stood beside her as she watched Tsubaki and Black Star twirl, Black Star was whispering something into Tsubaki's ear which made her grin and giggle.

"You look ravishing," Hiro said, taking Maka's hand in his. She couldn't help but blush; no one had ever said that about her before,

"T-thanks," she stammered, trying to take her hand back. He held on to it and brought it to his mouth, kissing it lightly. Maka turned beat red,

"I'm so happy you chose me to be your date Maka," he murmured, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "I couldn't have asked for a more amazing person to accompany me on this night," Maka didn't know how to react. Boys never said this kind of thing to her; she stood there, frozen, until she found herself smiling lightly,

"I'm glad I brought you too, Hiro!" She turned and said to him. Although it felt weird as he took her hand and led her to the dance floor, she at least wanted to _try _and have a good time at her best friend's wedding.

Soul tried not to care. He really did, but it was amazing his teeth didn't just shatter, the way he had them clenched. He watched Hiro kiss Maka's hand from across the room, but what was _worse_ was he saw her smile and giggle. It was bad; it was really, really bad. His jealousy was turning straight into anger, as it often did, and he didn't know how to deal with it. The floor opened up and couples starting dancing to the slow music being played.

"Soul," Jackie purred, leaning into him, "dance with me," her eyelids fluttered a few times before Soul decided it was a good idea. If Maka was going to have a good time tonight, then so was he.

Jackie was a good dancer. She moved exactly how she was supposed to, let Soul lead and threw in her own flair in everything she did. He was impressed, he didn't know she could do stuff like that. Usually she spent her time following Kim around, bending over backwards to make her happy, but seeing her pursue something for herself was kind of weird to him. Even if it was him she was pursuing. Soul automatically caught Maka's eye from across the dance floor, they stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, having the argument they were both feeling the effects of using nothing but gaze. Soul stopped dancing suddenly, and before Maka knew what was happening, their souls had resonated and she was standing in the black room.

"Don't," Soul warned, sitting down slowly on the crimson sofa. Maka's eyes narrowed, he knew she was about to break the resonance and go back to the party, but he wasn't ready for it.

"This is stupid." She said crossing her arms, her usual black dress brushing the ground lightly. Soul grunted, leaning back and crossing his arms as well,

"You're telling me." his eyes narrowed, "So. You like Hiro." It was more of an accusation then anything and Maka felt her eyes widen is surprise,

"W-what?" She sputtered, "That's not..." She paused for a moment before getting angry, "Why do you care anyway!"

"Why do I care?" he said roughly, standing to his feet, "Because he's an ass hole Maka!"

"Nicer then you," She muttered, averting her eyes from his crimson gaze.

"Oh, yeah, he's _real _nice." Soul took a calculated step towards her, "But that doesn't change that he's a little bitch,"

"Soul Evans!" Maka turned sharply, "Just because someone comes along who treats me nicely, and actually cares about me, and doesn't think I'm ugly or-or flat chested or whatever it is that's wrong with me, doesn't mean you can just—just," her anger was only paralleled by the tears welling up in her eyes. A detail Soul didn't miss as he felt guilt grip him tightly, "Just… ruin that for me!"

"Maka I—"

"Just go have fun with Jackie! She's obviously butter in your hands. Go have your fun Soul." Maka sobbed only once before she opened her eyes and was back on the dance floor.

Soul swore loudly in the Black Room as he was left alone. He slammed his hand into the fall board of the grand piano before opening his eyes back on the dance floor.

"Soul? Hello?" Jackie was waving her hand in front of his face, "Are you okay?"

Soul ignored her as he saw Maka turn from Hiro's grasp across the dance floor and run quickly out of the room. Hiro followed after her, calling. Jackie poked at him uncertainly,

"Are you even listening to me?" She said, clearly annoyed. Soul nodded absently at her,

"Yeah. Sorry Jackie," he muttered, "I'm just going to grab a drink, I'll be right back."

Jackie shrugged as a fast song came on. She ran over to Kim and danced with her group of friends happily. Soul wandered over the bar, subconsciously wanting to Maka-chop himself. How did all this happen? It wasn't the way he wanted it at all. Not only was Maka pissed off, she was with some other guy. Some guy who _wasn't _him. The thought made him feel sick. He slumped against the bar when Black Star walked over,

"Soul!" he yelled obnoxiously, "How's it going my man!" He grinned at him and Soul tried to be pleasant,

"Great. It's great Black Star." He said, trying to mean it. He didn't need his ruin his best friend's wedding or anything.

"Doesn't seem like you mean that!" He laughed loudly, "Where's Maka? She'll cheer you up!" He turned to look before Soul sighed,

"She's with Hiro. Her date, remember?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot you didn't man up enough to ask her," He laughed loudly again, "Well, go ask her to dance." He clapped Soul on the back encouragingly,

"She's pissed at me or something," Soul ordered a drink before turning back to his friend, "It's fine. Go have fun with your new wife, you old man." Soul grinned at him when Black Star made a face,

"Wife huh." Black Star was suddenly somber, concerning Soul, "I never thought I'd say that about anyone," he smiled as he said quietly, staring over at Tsubaki who was twirling slowly with her father, "It's weird."

"That's for sure," Soul laughed and Black Star became livelier right away,

"Well anyway Soul! My lady calls!" he wagged his eyebrows at Soul, "Now go put the moves on Maka! Keh keh keh!" He scampered off to dance with his bride as Soul grinned after him taking a swallow of his drink.

Maka slumped against the cold wall of the hallway, the bass from the music inside the main hall muffled, but still blaring. She sighed, sinking to sit on the ground as she wiped her eyes roughly. How stupid, crying. Totally illogical. She shook her head roughly, trying to forget about her snowy haired partners words. Why would he care anyway? She had no idea.

"Maka!" Maka's head shot up as Hiro rounded the corner, approaching her slowly, "What's wrong? What happened?" She tried to smile at him,

"Nothing! I just needed some air!" She lied. She was sure he wouldn't buy it, Soul never would have. Her eyes were still filled with tears.

"Oh," Hiro said, relief flooding his expression, "Oh good! I was worried you were upset, thank God you're not!" He said grinning at her. She was surprised her lie was undetected and she smiled at him a little,

"Yep," She said looking away. There was an awkward pause before Hiro shifted his weight,

"So… Do you want to go back in?" He chirped

"Um, No thanks, not yet at least," Maka said evenly. He sighed, obviously frustrated,

"Okay. When are you going to want to go back then… just because everyone's dancing and… yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck slowly,

"You can go back Hiro. I'm fine to be out here alone." She was a little annoyed with him,

"Okay great! Well then I'll see you later," He grinned before squatting down briefly, "Come dance with me when you're back!" And before Maka knew what he was doing, he dipped his head down and planted an awkward and unwarranted kiss right on her lips. He grinned at her before standing. She didn't know what to do, but sit there like an idiot staring at her knees.

"Well," Hiro said, walking back into the room, "Find me when you're done!" He smiled at her like nothing had happened before walking away.

Maka didn't like it. She hadn't wanted to kiss him, and she hadn't wanted him to do that. She couldn't help but wonder of it was that she just couldn't read men, or if he was actually just strange. She assumed it was because she lacked understanding when it came to relationships. She had no idea how to handle men and stuff like this, which was the main reason she never went on dates.

She brought her hand to her mouth absently, wishing that hadn't happened. She felt a hot tear spill down her cheek lightly.

She sat there for a little while, staring up at the ceiling, wishing desperately she just go home before she heard a long sigh. She turned quickly expecting Hiro to come beg her to come back in, but was met with a Soul Evans, leaning against the wall a few feet from her, studying her. She turned away from him crossly, not caring that she was being stubborn.

He wordlessly walked closer to her, before slumping down beside her and letting his head rest on her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off, in fact, it was kind of nice. They sat wordlessly like that for a few moments,

"I'm sorry," he finally muttered. She turned slightly to be able to see his face better, but didn't reply, "I'm an fuck-up Maka, you know that," he exhaled quietly as his eyes closed lightly, nuzzling into her slightly, "I don't know why you expect me not to be sometimes," he didn't have to open his eyes to know she was rolling hers.

"It's fine," she finally said, trying not to smile. He was really cute when he got like this, it was impossible to stay mad at him, "You're not a fuck-up; you're just weird." She giggled when he frowned and opened his eyes at her,

"Man, at least being a fuck-up is cool," He murmured, making her laugh again. He grinned at her easily, feeling the weight of their fight finally lifting.

"Tonight kind of sucks, huh?" She said as he stretched,

"You got that right," He yawned, letting his arm fall over her shoulders, frowning again as he looked at her face, "You've been crying," he said darkly. Her cheeks pinked a little as she turned away,

"Sorry," she said trying to wipe off any remainder of tears; Soul looked at her quizzically,

"You're sorry for crying? That's stupid." He removed his arm from around her to brush her cheek with the back of his fingers, "I'm the one who's sorry, that I made you sad. I'm sorry I'm an ass,"

"I forgive you!" She said a little more loudly then she meant to, her blush deepening as she pulled away from his hand, nearly falling to the ground. It was exactly moments like these that would keep her up at night wondering what exactly she and Soul had between each other. And besides, she shouldn't be doing this right now, not while Jackie is in there waiting for Soul, not while Hiro just kissed her. It was all wrong. Soul sniggered at her embarrassment before standing up and offering her his hand, she took it and stood beside him,

"Want to go back in?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yeah, Hiro's waiting for me." She didn't miss the way his expression darkened and his jaw tightened.

"Yeah," He said, trying to sound okay with it all: if there was one thing he didn't want, it was to make her sad again. If she liked Hiro, fine. Great. Awesome. He'd just have to learn to deal with it. For the night. Until he could kick the guys ass when Maka wouldn't be around to know about it. The thought made him smirk slightly, so he turned away to hide his expression from Maka, walking to the door and holding it open for her, "After you," he said with a little bow. She grinned at him as they walked in together.

They walked back into the dark dance floor, the music becoming loud in their eyes as their eyes adjusted to the smoky room. It was hot in here, and Maka felt momentarily overwhelmed. When did it become this crazy?

"You okay?" Soul's mouth as at her ear as he took her arm lightly and lead her into the crowd of people. She nodded sheepishly as they broke through a large crowd of people. Maka looked hopefully around for Hiro; she wanted to ask him about kissing her, what he meant and why he did it. More so, she kind of wanted to tell him off, but wouldn't if he was being earnest. Maybe things between them could work out, and then she could maybe finally stop being so upset about Soul dating other girls. That was a perfectly logical way to deal with these things, and she was proud of herself for thinking of it.

Who was bad at relationships _now_ she thought smugly, pushing her way through people, Soul trailing behind her.

She had spotted Hiro's blond hair a few feet away, people were dancing to the loud club music in front of her, but when she finally broke through she froze, her smile diminishing slowly as her stomach tightened into a knot.

There was Hiro, dancing with Jackie. Well, not as much dancing as they were pressing themselves against each other, their lips interlocked. Maka didn't know how to respond. She stood there watching him whisper something into Jackie's ear, to which she laughed once before crashing her mouth back into his.

Maka turned swiftly, her feelings of stupidity and betrayal reaching new levels. Who was she kidding, relationships just weren't her thing. It was time to just give up entirely, and accept that. It was stupid. She didn't even_ want _to date anyone; she just wanted to be okay.

She spun around and crashed right into Soul's chest, falling back a little. He caught her wrists,

"Whoa! Are you okay?" He steadied her before noticing how completely defeated her expression was, "Maka? What's—" His eyes trailed over to where Hiro and Jackie were, "Oh," He said darkly. Maka tore out of his grasp, they're eyes met as she let out a short sob before shoving her way out of the crowd of people.

"Wait!" Soul shouted after her, but the little Meister was too strong for her own good, and got out of the hall as fast as she could. Soul felt his hands tighten into fists before marching over to Hiro and Jackie. He put a firm hand on Hiro's shoulder, distracting the blonde from the girl under his arms for only a brief moment before he was spun around,

"Oh! Soul!" Hiro stuttered, "I didn't know this was _your _date! Jeeze I'm so sorry!" he smiled at Soul briefly,

"Soul! I thought you were gone!" Jackie started

"Where's Maka?" Soul gritted, ignoring Jackie completely and taking a step towards Hiro, "Where's your date?"

"Huh? Oh! I think she went home," He said sheepishly, "But you know, I'll call her tomorrow. Take her out for dinner," his tone was turning cocky, and Soul was become furious, "And then who knows,"

"Who knows _what?_" Soul encouraged,

"Who knows; my place, or yours. I don't know how loud she'll be when—" Hiro was cut off by Souls fist colliding with his jaw. He skidded backwards, falling hard to the ground. Jackie screamed as Soul approached him. Hiro sat up quickly, shock and fear in his eyes,

"You never deserved her in the first place," Soul growled at him, grabbing the scruff of his shirt and pulling him, holding him off the ground slightly. Hiro sputtered and swore as Soul dropped him to the ground. He fell down again, catching his breath as Soul turned and walked away,

"Can't even finish a fight, Eater?" Hiro called after him. Soul stopped for a moment before grinning darkly. He turned slowly, his trademark bloodlust look on his face as his arm turned into a sharp Scythe,

"Is that a road you really want to walk down, Hiro?" Soul said, approaching him slowly. Hiro scrambled backwards, instantly regretting the words. A loud and obnoxious laugh interrupted Soul's advance,

"It couldn't be _my_ party without a good fight ending in Soul kickin' ass!" Black Star cackled as he waltzed over to Soul, punching him in the arm playfully, "But I dono how the in-laws are gonna feel about the whole thing," Black Star grinned as Soul's arm morphed back to normal,

"Sorry man," Soul grinned back, relieved when Black Star laughed,

"We'll finish this one later," Black Star cackled loudly as Soul shot Hiro a threatening glance,

"Yes. We will."

Maka sat on the edge of the bathroom sick and bit her lip in frustration. Were all guys like this? They just found the closest girl who seemed mildly interested in them and put their mouth on them?

Gross.

Maka turned towards the mirror and examined her hair. It was fine, nicer than usual. It was weird, because although she was angry, she didn't _really _care. A part of her was just happy it was Jackie he was kissing, so hopefully Soul would be put off by that.

She felt like an idiot though. It was so beyond embarrassing. First, not being able to find a date, and then once she does he spends the night snogging with some other girl.

Boys really weren't her thing. It was time to give up all together.

No more trying at any of this.

Maka heard muffled voices from outside the door before it opened slightly and Soul poked his head in side, his eyes landed on her immediately before grinning stupidly. He opened the door and walked in,

"I've been looking everywhere for you," He said, putting his hands behind his head and sauntering over to her,

"Soul, this is the _ladies _washroom!" Maka said indignantly, "Get out!"

"Naw, I think I'll stay," he leaned against the counter she was sitting on presently, "It smells nice in here. That's so weird," she sniggered before looking down at her hands a little sombrely.

Soul pursed his lips for a moment,

"So, I'm really sorry Maka, but I may or may not have beaten up your date," Soul winced when she turned to him sharply,

"What! Why?" She suddenly felt a bizarre sort of better, before remembering, "Oh," she said, disappointed, "he was all over your date. Right,"

"What!" Soul full out laughed now, "Oh my God don't look like that it physically hurts. But _No,_ not because of _Jackie," _Soul made a face when he said her name, "I can't stand that girl,"

"You can't?" Maka asked quietly,

"No, of course not! She's so obnoxious. Her and Hiro deserve each other," He scuffed the ground with his foot. Maka stared at him with intense disbelief,

"So then… why'd you hit him?" She asked quietly,

"Because he pissed you off," he shrugged, "And he picked someone else over you, I was just beating some common sense into him. He's so uncool; you can do so much better. Plus…" He stopped for a moment looking away, "He was saying all this shit about taking you home. Pissed me off," He grunted, messing with his snowy hair.

Maka furrowed her brows,

"Why would that piss you off?" She asked earnestly. Soul laughed harshly,

"Because," he turned towards her, "You're too cool for him," he grinned at her, but she just narrowed her eyes,

"That's the _only _reason?" she said suspiciously,

"Well…" He said slowly. He paused for a moment; it really was now or never. If he kept pussy footing around the topic he'd have to spend another painful night like this, "Okay. It's not." He said, his jaw clenching slightly,

"Well then why!" She said, her typical impatience surfacing. He took a sharp breath before quickly saying,

"Why? Because I love you!" he almost shouted it. He wanted to just say it for so long, but now that he had he felt like such a tool. Maka stopped, shocked. She blinked a few times before opening her mouth, but at the same time the door to the bathroom opened. Both looked over as Marie (one of their old teachers from Shibusen) walked in. She saw them both before looking appalled,

"Soul! This is the woman's bathroom!" She marched over to him, "This is not the place for you!"

"No, it's really important!" Soul protested as Marie grabbed him by the ear, "I need to talk to Maka! Ow, ow, OW! Dammit woman! Let me go!" She paused for a moment before releasing him,

"Fine," she said turning briskly, "But just be glad that there's another bathroom around here," she turned briskly and swung the door opened before pausing and looking back at the two, a blush rising to her cheeks, "And no hanky-panky!" She shouted before slamming the door behind her.

Soul shook his head after the woman before slowly turning to look at Maka, obvious amusement in her eyes.

"Don't look like that," Soul mumbled, keeping his distance from her,

"I can't help it," Maka hummed, slipping off the counter and walking over to her Weapon. She took his hands in hers as his eyes widened in slight disbelief,

"Soul," she paused, thinking of the right words to say, but all she managed was,

"Thanks,"

She leaned her body into his as he dropped her hands slowly to encircle his arms around her. She clung to him as well and they stood there like that for a little while.

Maka dropped her arms from around him to push back against his chest, getting a better look at him, but his arms stayed tightly around her waist,

"Hiro kissed me tonight," She said, making a sour face,

"That's gross," said Soul, smirking at her, feeling even happier that he had punched the guys lights out,

"Yeah," She shook her head, "I didn't want him to, he just did it,"

"Well, lucky thing Black Star and I have made plans to kick him around some more, huh?" He leaned his forehead against hers looking down into her big green eyes,

"I guess," She looked away shyly,

"Maka," Soul whispered huskily, causing her gaze to shoot back to his,

"Y-yeah," She stammered,

"You still haven't answered me,"

"You haven't asked anything,"

"Don't be smart with me,"

"But I am smart,"

"Citation needed,"

"OW!"

Maka grinned in satisfaction, her punch to his chest well deserved. Although it obviously hurt, he didn't remove his arms from around her waist, in fact, he pulled her tighter,

"Play nice," He whispered in her ear. She giggled slightly before pulling away, making sure she read any expressions he might have,

"Okay," she sighed, "Of course I love you," She murmured, chewing on her lip embarrassedly, "I have for a long time. But I thought you wouldn't want someone like _me_. I mean, I don't know, guys like you, they don't like girls like me,"

"Well in this case," Soul smirked sarcastically, "I'll make an exception," He removed one of his arms from her waist to bring his hand to her face, using his fingers light to lift her chin towards him,

"Well great," Maka smiled sweetly at him as he moved towards her slowly, his eyes focused on her mouth,

"Maka," he murmured, his mouth only an inch away from hers. She could feel his breath feather her lips lightly,

"Mhmm?"

"Can I kiss you?"

Maka felt her stomach do a little backflip, wanting nothing more in the world then to have Soul Eater Evans kiss her,

"Yes," She said quietly, blushing a little before Soul gently placed his lips against her own. It was so much better than anything before it; so much better then when Hiro had kissed her, unwarranted and unwanted. They mouths moved together softly, as Soul's hand moved back to hold her cheek gently. Maka found herself running her fingers through the back of Soul's shaggy hair, complete bliss and satisfaction filling her. He pulled away, grinning his trademark, jagged smile down at her.

"Want to go back?" He said, kissing her forehead gently,

"Not really," She shrugged, straightening his tie,

"Come on, you can dance with me,"

"Pass,"

"Everyone will think you're cool! Hey, don't glare at me,"

"Nope,"

"Want to spend the entire night in the girl's bathroom?"

"With you? Sure!" She laughed when he kissed her playfully, gnawing on her lower lip,

"Okay great!" he said in between kisses, "We'll spend the whoolee time here," she snorted a laugh again as she tried to fight him off,

"Okay, okay! We'll go back!" She laughed again before playfully hitting his chest again.

He grinned at her once more, kissing her one last time, making it count before taking her hand and leading his very breathless Meister back to the party.

* * *

><p><em>I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm not so sure about this one, but meh. Better then not updating I guess<em>

_(also, if you have a request for this whole wedding series, feel free to leave it in the reviews :3 )_

_Please review! I love to hear what you guys think!_

_Love you guys!_


	4. Cop Out

_Ohmygod do you guys hate me? I haven't updated in the longest time and I have no excuse. Well, no good one at least._

_This is a really long one, so maybe that will warrant your forgiveness?  
><em>

_Either way! I'm sorry!  
><em>

* * *

><p>Cop Out.<p>

.

The train bumped and shook lightly on the tracks, lulling Maka as she looked out the window at the scenery speeding past them. Soul's head was in her lap as he napped lazily, sprawled out and taking up the rest of the bench they were seated on. On the bench across from them, in a similar state, were Black Star and Tsubaki. The main difference was that Black Star was awake and whispering things to Tsubaki that was making her giggle and blush. He kept reaching up and toying with her bangs, making Maka feel like she was intruding on a very personal moment for them.

She would have to punch Soul later for falling asleep and leaving her in such an awkward situation alone.

A large section of the train was filled with her fellow classmates: Kid, Patti and Liz occupied their cart with Kilik and his twin weapons, while another was filled with Ox, Harvar, Kim and Jackie. The only other people she knew were her old teachers: Sid was with Nygas, her Father (she scowled at the thought) was on board, probably with some random girl, and Yumi was somewhere as well. The rest of the train was filled with people she didn't know personally, but generally had heard of.

They were all on their way to the same event: Marie and Stein's wedding.

It really was strange how it all came about; although no one could say they didn't see something like this coming. Everyone knew Marie and Stein had been living together for quite some time, but most just assumed was strictly to help keep Stein's insanity to manageable levels. Once the couple revealed it was more than just that, it wasn't long before an engagement was announced.

Honestly, Maka worried for Marie's safety, being married to such a man. But if she was happy, then Maka was happy. She was quite fond of the one eyed Death Scythe Hammer.

Soul stirred a little before waking, stretching his arms over his head and sitting up groggily,

"Are we there yet," He complained, slumping against Maka, still half asleep,

"No, not yet," She said for the thousandth time, "Honestly, you're worse than a six year old,"

"Ngh, I've been called worse," He nestled his face into her neck a little, wanting to sleep more. She slouched him off, not making him move entirely, but lightening him up a little. She was still a little weird about how touchy-feely the two of them had become lately. Soul grumbled slightly before getting comfortable against her,

"Why's it gotta be so damn far away?" He groaned, "Trains take forever,"

"I don't know," Maka sighed, admitting she wished they would just be married in Death City. Marie had insisted it be in a more suitable location, one that seemed more wedding-esk. I guess a town where Halloween was almost year round didn't seem a nice play to get hitched. Maka would never understand. But Marie convinced everyone to come by saying it would be a great vacation, and Lord Death could watch through a mirror, being involved as well. The fact that it was on a California beach suited everyone just fine, sealed with Stein offering to pay for transportation. Everyone accepted. It wasn't until the week before they found out it meant a train and not a plane taking them, and a train from Nevada to California was much too long.

Now they'd been on the road for quite some time, and were restless to arrive.

"Hey," Soul drawled, snapping Maka's attention back to him, "Does this mean I get to see you in a bikini?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively before Maka pushed him off of her,

"Shut up," She said, now wishing she had brought a bathing suit that covered more of her,

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "Not like there's much to see any—OW!"

Where that woman located books at times like these he would never know.

"I like you better when you're asleep," Maka fumed,

"Would you two shut up?" Black Star finally addressed them, Tsubaki shushed him,

"S-sorry!" She smiled at them, "He's just grumpy from the train!"

"Like hell I am! God's don't get grumpy," He sat up from her lap and stood, walking towards the door, "I think we're almost there anyway,"

"How do you know?" Maka eyed him skeptically,

"God's intuition, you wouldn't understand," he laughed loudly and Soul joined in when Maka crossed her arms over her chest sharply.

Much to Maka's dismay, Black Star was actually right. They pulled into the station a short time after, and everyone left immediately to settle into their hotel rooms.

Soul dropped their luggage in the room with a loud '_thunk' _before launching himself on to one of the double beds in the room. Maka followed behind him laughing a little, he rolled over to look at her before grinning stupidly. She sat on the edge of the bed and massaged a sore spot on her neck slightly. He watched for a moment before sitting up and kneeling behind her, his hands taking over for hers as he worked out the knot in her neck.

Maka let him do it graciously. He was always way better at this then she was anyway.

She gave tribute to his piano skills for that.

They sat like that for a while in silence before the weapon collapsed onto her, his chest against her back, head on her shoulder, his arms shadowing hers slightly.

"I'm so fucking _tired_," He complained. She laughed,

"You slept all day!"

"But it was train sleep, that doesn't count,"

"Well it's early! We can't sleep yet! This is our vacation remember?"

Soul grumbled, removing himself from his Meister and falling onto the bed, pulling out his cell phone and staring at the screen blankly,

"Vacation means relaxing: sleep is relaxing," he dropped his phone onto the bed lazily, "We have like a week,"

"No," she said turning towards him, "We have until Lord Death calls us back,"

"Can't the Kishin's just sod off for a little while? Until I _feel _like killing them again?" He grinned when she rolled her eyes,

"Okay Soul, I'll just let them know that right away,"

He laughed, but they both knew she was right. Having all the DWMA students and teachers in one place was so beyond risky. Maka was surprised Lord Death allowed it at all, but she trusted his judgement. At least California would be the safest place on the face of the earth for the next week.

She knew that if something came up, they'd rush out in a second. Soul had recently become a Death Scythe, and the only way for her to stay his partner was for her to agree to be shipped off whenever and wherever they were needed.

All this was fine; Maka probably wouldn't be worried at all, except for one thing: the Kishin they had been fighting that got away. His name was Steven.

It was probably a stupid thing to worry about, it had been about a month since they last saw him, but she couldn't shake it. This particular Kishin was obsessed with the duo. He was dead set on separating the two of them for the majority of the battle, and when he finally realized he didn't have a way of doing such; vanished. He had been off the radar ever since. It wasn't that Maka was scared for her own safety; it was that of the civilians she needed to protect. If Steven, or any other Kishin for that matter, knew about all the Weapons and Technicians being absent from their normal places, there would be chaos.

But then again, events like this happened in the past frequently, and there was a never issue then.

Maka shook her head, needing to relax. She lay down beside Soul and closed her eyes tightly, trying to shake the unpleasant thoughts. Soul noticed her grim expression, turning towards her,

"Stop thinking about him," he said softly, "He's not going to do anything right now,"

Maka nodded in response, her brows still furrowed,

"I'm just worried,"

"Well cut it out," he joked, smirking when she shot him a glare,

"Oh, that's a responsible thing to say," she got up wandering over to her suitcase, unzipping it. Soul watched her, amused,

"Listen," He said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "He won't do anything while we're on vacation, and we'll have fun, go home and then kick his ass, okay? I promise," She looked at him skeptically, but when he grinned at her for the thousandth time that day, she caved,

"Okay,"

The vacation was fun, Maka wouldn't deny that. How long had it been since they all got an extended period of time together where they could just goof off like this? No one could remember.

The beach was everyone's favorite spot to be, and almost everyone spent all their time there.

Maka _had _brought a Bikini, much to Soul's infinite delight, and after getting over her initial shyness about the whole thing, wore it frequently.

Patty and Liz forced Kid to buy them ice cream almost every chance they got, he grumbled about them becoming asymmetrical but gave in when Liz threatened to splash bleach on his laundry next time she did it for him (which was always now a days). The thought so horrified them that he bought them almost anything they asked for.

Black Star kept challenging everyone to beach volleyball, and winning repeatedly and with such arrogance that no one would play him anymore. He sulked for a while after that before Tsubaki cheered him up.

Ox chased Kim around the beach while Jackie and Kilik watched lazily, neither particularly enthralled with the cat and mouse, hard to get angle Kim wouldn't stop playing at.

It had been five days of pure bliss for everyone. They went dancing at night, they bummed around the beach during the day and it only rained once. Maka was excited to get some reading done, but Soul forced her to go into town with the rest of the group and go shopping in the large malls they had.

She had to admit, she did have fun.

The wedding was the next day; Maka couldn't believe they hadn't been called away. In fact, it worried her slightly. Soul noticed a few times and repeatedly attempted to quell her fears in his own charming way. It usually worked.

But tonight, as the group sat around a campfire on the beach, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that was filling her. She could feel something strange in her Soul Perception and it was bothering her beyond belief. She couldn't figure out what it was. She stared into the fire, her eyebrows furrowed, not listening to the story Black Star was telling as the others laughed. She was so focused on honing in on whatever it was; she accidently slipped her mind connection into Soul's.

_What's the matter? _

She jumped a little, his voice loud in her mind. She looked across the fire to see him staring at her intensely, his thoughts now inside her head as his grim expression matched hers.

_Something's wrong. _

She thought back. His brows furrowed deeper,

_Well, what is it?_

_I don't know. I can't tell. It's weird._

She shook her head not able to explain in thoughts alone. He stood, knowing this to be true and strode around the fire, sitting down beside her,

"What's weird? What is it?" He said in a low tone, not wanting to worry the others,

"Something in my Soul Perception. It's probably fine; it's just a slight reading that I don't really understand." She closed her eyes, focusing again on the strange disturbance, it seemed far away. She exhaled sharply, feeling frustrated.

"Well, if it's fine…" He leaned back slightly, trying not to be worried about it. She stood sharply,

"I'm just going to go see if I can sort it out," She said, brushing the sand off her shirt. If the problem was that this strange soul was far away, going a little closer might solved the problem.

"Okay, I'll go with you," Soul started to stand,

"No, no, it's fine," she smiled, "It's probably just one of the Death Scythe's soul's that I'm not as familiar with. I'm just going to go look for curiosity's sake," she grinned at him before his expression relaxed,

"Okay well, don't go far, yeah?" He fidgeted, not wanting her to go alone, but well aware that she didn't necessarily want him to go with her. He sighed, knowing his Meister liked time to herself like this to sort out her own specific powers. It was kind of like a weird sort of training. Also, they weren't far from the resort, where almost all the death scythes were staying. Tonight, this beach was the safest in the world,

"I won't!" She beamed before sauntering away from the campfire and in the direction of the large resort bar to find the disturbance,

"And call my phone when you get there okay?" He yelled after her, holding his cell up to her, illustrating his point.

"I left mine back in the room! I'll borrow someone's!" She shouted back at him she walked further away. He shrugged before stuffing his phone back into his pocket and gazing at the bon fire.

What Maka really wanted to do was to find Stein and ask if he'd felt anything similar, but it was the night before his wedding, and bothering him with something like this seemed rude if not boring. Then there was her father, but he was probably _busy _with a group of local women. Maka crinkled her nose at the thought. The man was growing more repulsive by the day.

She walked across the dark beach, the lit up resort in front of her, guiding her path, the dim light from the campfire behind her, her friend's laughter fading slowly as she walked. It wasn't necessarily cold, but the cool breeze accompanied by the sound of the ocean washing along the sandy shore somehow sent shivers down her spine. She suddenly wished Soul had come with her after all. She shook the idea from her head and quickened her pace; she didn't need to depend on a man for something as trivial as walking to the resort. It was stupid.

A cold wind ripped around her face as suddenly something in her Soul Perception clicked into place. Her eyes winded as she turned suddenly, her breath getting caught in her throat as she was struck from the side quickly, she flew through the air for only a moment before regaining her senses, turning sharply and landing with one knee bent, her leg extended to the side to keep her steady,

"Ever the pleasure, Maka Albarn: I see the time we've spent apart hasn't weakened your abilities any," A figure materialized from the darkness, his features only slightly illuminated in the moonlight. Maka's lip curled as she studied him: his black fedora tightly on his head, his unbuttoned dress shirt; the breeze catching it and showing the large black tattoos across his chest.

"Steven," Maka growled, standing to her feet. She wanted to slap herself for forgetting her phone tonight.

"In the flesh," He took a slight bow, but his nonchalant stature remained, as always: one leg crossed over the next as he stood with his hands on his hips, looking at her, an amused smirk on his lips.

Maka's eyes darted to the campfire, now only a glowing light in the distance where her friends were: where Soul was. Steven followed her gaze,

"Oh dear, left the weapon behind I see?" He chuckled darkly, "And here I was starting to think you two were inseparable,"

"The disruption in my Soul Perception…" Maka's eyes darkened as she realized she had fell right into his trap,

"Well, you know what they say: curiosity killed the cat and all that," He laughed loudly, the insanity only heightening his soul's strength. Maka could see it quadruple in size through her Soul Perception as she stumbled backwards,

"And you, kitten," He growled, "Don't seem to have anyone here to help you this time,"

A scream pierced through the night, echoing off the water as Souls head snapped towards the dark beach. In seconds he was on his feet, running headlong towards the resort. The others all stood and followed slightly behind, stunned and slightly confused. Black Star caught up to Soul first,

"Was that—" Black Star matched Soul's quick strides easily,

"Maka!" Soul shouted into the darkness, only pushing forward when there was no reply. Soul stopped abruptly, observing the sand around him quickly,

"Shit!" He roared, kicking the ground harshly before pacing wildly, his head in his hands, "This is bad, this really fucking bad,"

Black Star knelt and touched the disrupted sand lightly. There had definitely been some sort of fight here, however brief it was. He traced along the movements of the sand with his eyes quickly, recognizing Maka's distinctive movements: she had been hit, definitely regained her footing, but then…

"Black Star!" Tsubaki stopped, catching her breath as the others arrived behind her, "What's happened? What's wrong?"

"Maka's been attacked." He said darkly, standing and taking a few quick strides away from her,

"Attacked?" Kid questioned, "By whom? Who is stupid enough to attack a meister while almost the entire faculty of DWMA is practically around the corner?" Kid furrowed his brows,

"Someone cocky enough to think they could get away it," Soul growled.

"Over here!" Black Star said grimly, as everyone gathered around him slowly. Soul swore loudly as a snarl ripped through his chest. Blood was splattered across the sand,

"No!" Liz gasped, her hand at her mouth,

"I have to find her," Soul panted, his hands in fists, "This is so _stupid! _I shouldn't have let her go alone!"

"How did this even happen?" Kim asked, Jackie close to her side,

"She felt something in her Soul Perception and wanted to ask a Death Scythe about it, so I let her go alone. I should have known _that bastard _would have tried something like this!" Soul started searching the sand for a lead of where he could have taken her,

"Who would have tried something?" Tsubaki chirped,

"Steven! That fucking Kishin!"

"The one you two were fighting months ago?" Ox scoffed, "She'll be fine: we've practically got an armada here."

"He's right," Kid said, clapping a hand on Soul's shoulder, he shrugged it off quickly and continued searching the sand, "Listen, let's split up and search the city: Kilik, you go inform the Death Scythes of what's happened, we'll find her before the wedding even starts, alright?"

"Yeah." Soul felt the pit in his stomach tighten,

"Call me or Soul if you find anything!" Kid barked before catching the Thompson's in their weapon state and dashing headlong towards the nearest group of buildings.

Everyone followed and took off swiftly into the city, most Meisters flying on their weapons to have an overhead view. Soul, refusing to go with any team, ran through the empty streets, his mind racing as he noticed a splash of blood on one of the cobblestones. He stopped abruptly, touching it with his hand lightly: still wet, still warm. She was close. His eyes scanned the street before he found another splash,

_Better than breadcrumbs_

He thought darkly, following the trail. It was convenient in a weird way; they were frequent and easy to follow. Soul skidded around the corner, seeing a smeared handprint on the wall. It was easy to follow.

It was

_Easy_

To follow.

He stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide as panic hit him full force.

Of course: A set up.

He barely had time to think this before a dark figure darted at him from around the wall of one of the old buildings. His arm quickly morphed into a Scythe as he turned sharply to the side, blocking a swift attack. A flurry of sparks slid into the night air, illuminating the grinning face of exactly who Soul expected.

"Steven!" He roared, jumping backwards before charging the Kishin, his Scythed arm held high. He swung once, but Steven sidestepped him easily, bringing his elbow down hard into the crown of Soul's head. He fell forward, crashing into the ground with great force. He was only down for a moment before he rolled and was on his feet once more. Staggering a little, a thick stream of red blood started pouring from his snowy hair down the side of his face. Steven stared at him, the confident smirk never leaving his lips.

"Where is she," Soul growled at the Kishin,

"You don't have to be so mean," Steven pretended to pout as he and Soul began circling each other, "Maybe if you say please then—"

"Tell me now you son of a bitch!"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Steven smiled sickeningly,

"Tell me now or I will rip you limb from limb," Soul gritted. This was bad. He and Maka had tried to take this guy down before; he was tough and at the moment, Soul was a man down. He needed to get to his phone and call Kid, and he needed to do it now.

"Ohh, that sounds fun. We should try that out." Steven licked his lips slowly, "Or I could try it on dear Maka,"

All reason left his mind as his Meisters name was brought into it. Fury gripped him as he suddenly charged Steven head on, his Scythed arm raised high. It was just the reaction Steven planned to elicit, a fact made very clear to Soul as the Kishin pivoted quickly and slashed Soul's stomach. He quickly brought his knee up and caught Soul under the chin, sending him flying back across the cobblestone leaving a thick trail of blood against the dark stone.

"Tsk, tsk, Scythe boy. One should control their anger. It's so unbecoming, and especially for such a pretty boy like you."

"Shut the fuck up," Soul panted, rising shakily off the ground. He clutched his stomach and tried to focus his swimming vision,

"Still so hostile? And here I was planning on cutting you a deal. Oh well, c'est la vie!" Steven turned and begun walking away sharply before turning his head, "I'll go inform Maka of this recent development."

There was that name again. That wonderful, horrible, terrifying name: Maka. Soul knew he wasn't thinking straight, affirmed when he asked,

"What kind of deal?"

Steven stopped, turning slowly he smiled darkly,

"Why, you for her of course."

Soul froze; he hesitated for one moment before saying,

"Yes."

"Doesn't he want to know the context of which this is?" Steven was beyond amused,

"Tell me." Soul spoke in a low voice,

"Well! To the death!" Steven chuckled,

"You could have easily killed me a few moments ago Steven, why didn't you just—"

"And she watches."

Soul's breath got caught in his throat,

"Why!" He barked harshly, "Why any of this?"

"BECAUSE!" Steven howled, "You, cute little death scythe and your cute little Technician are sickening to me! People respect you but look at you! Separated you are _NOTHING_! You strive only on each other's strength! Not only will I kill you Soul Evans, I will break Maka. I will show all of DWMA how powerful _I _am! How much they should fear me! I can break any team of Meister and Weapon and I will start with you." His eyes had rolled into his head as he spoke, his smile stretching far too wide across his face as Soul got a good look of the insanity that had obviously taken control of him.

Steven was slipping. Soul needed to do two things: get Maka to safety, and call Kid. His arm still clutched his bleeding stomach, his head spun and blood was now covering the entire left side of his face,

"But Maka lives?" Soul asked evenly, breaking Steven's state slightly,

"Maka lives if she watches you die!" He laughed wildly as Soul nodded,

"Fine. Do it! Bring her out here now!" He shouted. Steven roared victoriously with laughter,

"Wait right here. Don't you move now!" He spun on his heel and vanished into the dark night. Soul stood anxiously for a few moments, his eyes darting around to make sure Steven was gone before pulling out his cell phone. He fumbled through the contacts before landing on Kid's name he was just about to press the call button when he heard,

"THAT WAS NOT PART OF OUR DEAL SOUL EATER EVANS!" Steven roared behind him, slapping the phone from him roughly. It skidding across the cobblestone and landed about six feet away from them. Steven threw a very dishevelled Maka against the ground roughly before turning and having his second attack blocked by Soul's Scythed arm,

"I was just calling my mom," Soul lied, "Telling her I loved her and all that,"

"LIAR!" Steven roared, reeling and attacking again, Soul blocked it but was sent to his knees in a defensive position,

"Maka!" Soul called, "Maka, talk to me!"

"I'm okay Soul!" She croaked at him, trying to stand,

"NOW SHE DIES TOO!" Steven turned and took a few fast runs towards Maka; she could tell right away he was going for her throat. She evaded his attack at the last second, sending him flying towards the ground with the force of his undelivered blow.

"Soul!" She yelled to her partner who quickly turned into his full scythe form. She caught him and delivered a swift blow across Stevens back.

The Kishin howled in pain, flailing forward before turning, now on all fours, his face twisting into distorted expressions,

"I will kill you," He gurgled, "I will kill you both!" He charged at the duo, his movements sloppy and uncontrolled. Maka had taken serious damage while in the care of Steven, but even still knew she could defeat him. She closed her eyes as she and Soul resonated together quickly. Her eyes flew open as she shouted,

"Witch hunter!" The bright light from Soul hit Steven square on, tearing his left arm and much of his torso from his body.

It didn't slow him down.

Maka's eyes widened as she watched the crazed Kishin continue his approach. She was so stunned she didn't hear Soul yell for her to move, she didn't hear anything. She just saw Soul leave his weapon form before sweeping her legs out from under her. She seemed to fall in slow motion to the ground as Steven collided with Soul, sending them both flying only inches above her and into a solid brick wall of an industrial building ten feet behind her.

Everything was still.

Everything was so still.

Maka staggered to her feet,

"Soul?" She squeaked, somehow finding her voice, "SOUL?" She shouted, now running sloppily to the destroyed wall. She moved rubble away searching,

"Maka," Soul groaned quietly, "Here," he tried to raise his arm but couldn't.

"Where are you?" She was frantic now,

"Calm down," He choked out, "I'm here,"

She finally found him, half buried under rubble. She started pulling away brick, small sobs escaping her as she shook slightly.

"Find Steven," Soul ordered. He knew things weren't looking good for him. He couldn't feel his lower extremities; it was becoming impossible to breathe and keeping his eyes open was more of a chore then anything. Maka quickly scanned the room before finding a crumpled form of a used to be Kishin, as she approached it she saw a large red Soul now glowing underneath it all,

"He's dead!" She shouted running back to Soul's side, "He's dead." She panted, finally looking at her partner. Her eyes widened as she realized the extent of the damage he had taken.

"Good," Soul mumbled. He tried to move but just hissed in pain,

"Don't move!" She ordered, "Where's your phone?"

"Outside… on the ground," Soul could feel his eyes rolling back into his head,

"I'm moving you out there!" Maka shouted.

"Yeah," He groaned.

She hooked her arms under his shoulders and pulled him through the rubble. He tried his best to suppress his screams of agony, but a few escaped. She placed him on the cobblestone gently before locating his phone. She punched in Kids number frantically and screamed into the phone when he answered,

"Kid! You get here now! You get Kim and Stein and everyone else! Soul's hurt badly! Steven's dead. Yes! That's not important now! No, NO! KID! NOW!"

Soul felt his eyes shutting,

"Soul Evans you stay with me now! You don't close those eyes!" She shouted into his face. His eyes opened slowly and looked into her deep green ones, leaning over him she turned her attention back to the phone,

"Kid. This is bad. Yeah. I'll stay on the line,"

"Well shit," Soul groaned, forcing a crooked grin on his face, "This doesn't look good," a trickle of blood fell from his mouth as he spoke and he coughed involuntarily, sending a thick stream from his mouth and down his front.

Maka clutched his arm tightly, her other hand on his face,

"Shut up Soul! Just shut up!" She sobbed as she moved the hair from his forehead, the only action of relief she knew to offer at this moment, "Just hold on a little while, okay? Kim and Stein are on their way,"

"Man," He said weakly, "It's not cool of me to make you worry," He tried to smile again but couldn't muster the energy. He was dying. He knew it, she knew it.

"You're so stupid!" A hot tear spilled from her eye and landed onto his face, "Why do you always have to do stuff like this!" She was crying heavily now, "Stop! Just… don't die! They're on their way!"

"Sorry," He said softly, not sorry at all. If he dying meant her living, he was fine with it. He didn't care. She had saved him from so many things throughout his life; he'd die for her in a second. It seemed like the only correct way to repay her anyhow. The thought ran morbidly through his mind and Maka heard every syllable of it in her own. Her gaze suddenly turned angry,

"You are not dying for me!" She shouted roughly, "This isn't—you can't—" She sputtered indignantly, refusing to let him do this.

He struggled to maintain consciousness,

"Soul Evans!" She roared, "You dying won't repay anything! If you leave me here alone I—I'll—" She didn't know what she would do. She didn't have an answer to the end of the statement, "I won't be able to do it anymore!" She broke down, sobbing loudly she lay her head onto his chest, yelling things he couldn't quite make out.

Somehow, the words stuck with him.

_I won't be able to do it anymore_

He didn't even really know what it meant, but he was suddenly filled with resolve. There were things he couldn't do if he died, obviously, but it seemed like he never realized them until that point. There were so many things he didn't want.

He didn't want Maka to be sad. Although an egotistical thing to think, he knew that if he died she'd take full responsibility, as she was prone to do, and fall into a state that would be near impossible to get her out of. It would take _him _a century to get her out of, and he wouldn't be around.

He didn't want Maka to have to live alone. Although it seemed stupid and trivial, it was genuinely something he worried about. If she woke up with her nightmares and he wasn't there to hold her until she silently drifted, who would? When her stupid hair filled up the shower drain, and she was too grossed out, who would snake it out for her? When she studied for way to long, who would force her to goof off for just a little while? Maka Albarn needed a great deal more looking after then she thought she did.

He didn't want Maka to end up with some loser guy. For some reason a large cast of men scanned through his brain quickly. Hiro: he hated that guy, Kilik: he wasn't bad, but not Maka's type, Kid: he was surprised when this one came to his mind; he had nothing against Kid, in fact, he was best friends with the guy, not to mention he was quite preoccupied with Liz anyway… That was probably when he realized it wasn't that he didn't want Maka to end up with some _idiot _guy, he didn't want her to end up with _any _guy apart from himself.

The rest of his reasons for living seemed to dissipate with this one, and he clung to it, fighting everything to stay conscious. Maka was still screaming through tears when he finally let the weight overtake him and he drifted into blackness.

She saw his eyes close slowly. Watched in horror as his body went limp, the blood from his chest now all over her hands as she touched his face gently, not knowing what else to do,

"Soul?" She squeaked, unable to process what was happening, "Soul!" She cried louder,

"Hurry up!" She roared into his cell phone, "I think he's—I don't know if he's—" Maka tried to speak, her words racked with sobs, "I think he's dead!" She finally screamed, grabbing her weapon by the shoulders she shook him gently as she heard Stein in her ear,

"We're close Maka," He said calmly, "Stay where you are,"

Like she could go anywhere else. She looked down at her weapon, his skin pale, splotches of blood on everything; she couldn't even tell if he was breathing anymore. She felt sick. She was still trying to wake him when Kim fell from above her, jumping off of Jackie's Lantern form,

"Move!" Kim demanded, pushing Maka off of Soul in a quick movement. Maka tumbled back, disoriented as Kim tore Soul's shirt open. Maka scrambled towards her weapon, only to have Jackie hold her back,

"Relax," She said, clamping her arms on Maka's shoulders as she tried desperately to get to Soul, "You'll only be in her way,"

"Soul," Maka chocked out, her body going limp in defeat as she watched the light from Kim's hands move over the large gash in his stomach and chest. Moments later Stein rounded the corner of an old building, running quickly, accompanied by Kid, Patti and Liz. Kid paled when he saw Soul, his expression dark as he held Liz and Patti's hands as they watched in horror. Stein marched directly to Soul and spoke quickly to Jackie as she tried desperately to heal him. Maka watched the scene in a blur from her spot on the hard cobblestone. Kim called Jackie over and she came immediately, giving Maka a chance to crawl slowly towards him.

It wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Somehow her hand found his and she held it tightly as they all worked over him, her gaze fixed on his face.

How many times had she had this nightmare? Him lying there… it being her fault.

At some point Black Star arrived, she heard Tsubaki's voice. Stein was yelling something, they were lifting him. Tsubaki had her, held her back as they took him away.

She was screaming his name, she was fighting Tsubaki, she needed his hand back in hers. She broke free of Tsubaki's grasp and ran towards the group transporting him; Kim was riding Jackie, floating as she worked. She was almost to him with Liz stepped in front of her quickly, her arm moving fast as she slapped her in the face.

The sound echoed in Maka's ears as she froze.

"Stop it!" Liz shouted. Maka's eyes filled with tears as all the sounds returned. Stein and Jackie were shouting orders, Black Star was swearing, Patti was grave, Tsubaki was crying. Liz was staring her in the face, "Stop." She repeated. Maka's eyes widened before her knees buckled and she fell into Liz who caught her easily. She started crying again, frantic as she gripped the female gun weapon.

"Why!" She kept repeating, Liz held her tightly cooing into her ear,

"I know Maka, I know," She said, smoothing her hair as they both fell onto the ground slowly, "I know,"

Soul's eyes opened quickly and darted around. He looked down to discover he was garbed in his usual pinstripe suit, sitting at his usual grand piano in his usual Black Room.

"Well, well, well," The imp crossed his legs politely, Soul turned to see him sitting in the arm chair behind him "If it isn't exactly where we always end up," he took a swig from the glass of wine he was holding, smiling devilishly at Soul,

"And where exactly is that?" Soul replied, turning to face him,

"With you needing my help," His expression darkened, "And not taking it,"

"I don't need your help," Soul scoffed, turning back towards the piano,

"Oh really?" The imp replied, arrogance dripping off each word, "So you're okay with dying now? That wasn't the thought that ran through your mind before you ended up _here. _Involuntarily I might add," He smirked when Soul's eyes grew wide, suddenly remembering his most recent worldly events,

"Wait, am I-?" Soul looked down at his hands,

"No, no" The imp sighed, "You're not dead. Yet,"

"What do you mean, yet?" Soul stood sharply,

"No need to get fussy," The imp put his hands up defensively, "I'm not the one who got you into this mess," he clicked his tongue when Soul said nothing in reply, "Now as I am well aware, you are stubborn. At times even more so than that damn girl you bring in here," He shook his head as if remembering something painful, "So I would guess you _don't _want my help?"

"No." Soul replied quickly,

"Well then," The imp slit his eyes, "You will die,"

"Then I guess that's that," Soul shrugged trying to look nonchalant,

"And the girl?" The imp cooed, not missing the visible reaction it got from Soul,

"What about her?"

"You're okay with leaving her?"

"I—" Soul paused for a moment, never feeling so conflicted in his life,

"Listen," The imp growled, annoyed, "I hate that it had to come to this, but since you will not accept my help, there's only one thing left for me to do,"

"And that is?" Soul glared at him while the Imp shook his head slowly,

"Convince you to decide not to die," he said it as if it physically hurt him,

"What?" Soul wasn't expecting that answer,

"As much as I hate you, and believe me, I do, and as much as I desire to be in control of you, there is one thing that is, unfortunately, standing in my way in this specific instance,"

"And that is?"

"I can't survive if you are dead," The imp tapped his foot, annoyed, "So if you won't accept _my_ help, I'm going to have to help _you_. Because I am simply an extension of you, that's why I drive you mad. I'm everything you hate, but that still makes me a part of you."

Soul furrowed his brows,

"So, you'll help me live through this?"

"I'm doing that right now," The imp exhaled sharply, "At this point all I can do is convince you that you should fight to stay alive,"

"Well then fine, done," Soul said, crossing his arms,

"I should warn you," The imp grinned wickedly, "If you do not accept my help, this will hurt. A lot,"

"Luckily I'm tough as shit,"

"Unfortunately for me,"

"So let's live," he said, tugging on his snowy hair, his crazed, lopsided grin returning as he understood fully the implications of the situation.

"Yes," the imp sighed, "lets."

There were many things he was aware of before he was aware he was conscience. He noticed a monitor, beeping obnoxiously, he noticed his hand was in someone else's, he noticed how much _bloody_ pain he was in with every inhale and exhale and he noticed a small voice, it sounded almost like they were crying.

His eyes opened slowly, everything was so fuzzy before they finally focused on a dark room. He was in a hospital bed. Everything hurt so much. He couldn't move, he didn't want to move. His eyes moved slowly down to a figure, leaning on his bed, holding his hand tightly as little sobs escaped through her shaking shoulders.

"Soul," she said quietly, "Soul, wake up," She cried silently some more before he had enough sense about him to realize it was Maka.

He tried his voice but it didn't seem to work, trying to speak only sent spasms of pain all through his torso, so he simply squeezed her hand gently.

He saw her freeze for a moment, illuminated only by the blue screens of the monitors and computers set up all around his bed. She sat up to look at his hand before her eyes slowly moved up his form and to his face. Her gaze finally met his and he saw her mouth drop open slightly. He tried again to speak but with no success, he tried to grin stupidly at her but he felt too weak. His mouth twitched into a small smile before she leaned in,

"Are you really awake?" She whispered, tension thick in her voice. He blinked slowly at her before deciding the pain would be worth words,

"Maka," he muttered, pain splitting his ribcage, he groaned, gritting his teeth, his eyes squinting shut,

"Soul!" Maka stood up briskly before running out of the room. He was worried for a moment, needing to see her face again, needing to apologize and comfort her.

Luckily, she came running back a few seconds later, pulling a very tired looking Stein behind her.

"Well that's interesting," he said, leaning in to see Soul's face better. If he could speak Soul would have told him off or called him a personal space invader or something like that. The doctor opened Soul's eye wider and shone a light into it. Hissing an intake of air Soul tried to move his head, only causing more waves of pain.

"Is he really…?" Maka stopped, walking towards the bed as Stein moved away to read the monitors, placing her hands on either side of her snowy haired partners face and looking into his crimson eyes, "I can't believe you're awake,"

"I'm sorry," he breathed, feeling the pain immediately, her eyes shone with tears as she grinned at him,

"I knew you'd be okay," She said quietly, moving slowly to place a soft kiss on his cheek, he found the strength to smile a little,

"Is that all?" He said weakly,

"What?" she blinked at him,

"That's it?" he said, ignoring everything in him to stay conscience still. He saw her blush and glance at a preoccupied Stein who was scribbling something down onto his notepad before leaning over and gently pressing her lips against hers. She pulled back; obviously afraid of hurting him and he smiled weakly again,

"I'm going to give him morphine now," Stein interrupted, not looking up from his note pad as he wrote things down, "And then I'm calling Kim down to do her round of healing early and more intensive today, okay Maka?"

"Yes, that's excellent, thank you," She took Soul's hand in her own as Stein injected a vial into the bag of fluids attached the IV in Soul's arm.

He felt his pain diminish slightly and his eyelids close slowly,

"Just hang on a little longer," he heard Maka say before he was out again.

The next weeks were, as the imp promised, painful.

It seemed like Maka never left. Each time Soul regained consciousness, she was either there or very close by. Not that he was complaining, in fact, quite the opposite. He hated the thought of not seeing her. Of feeling this pain and anguish without her there beside him. It was on one occasion she had stepped away that Soul got a chance to talk to Stein privately,

"So," Soul said, exhaling a sigh, "Give it to me straight doc,"

"Hmm?" Stein turned to him, his eyebrow arched,

"Did I ruin your wedding?"

The professor laughed out right before shaking his head,

"No, Soul, if anyone ruined my wedding I'd say it was Steven. And between you and me, please God never tell Marie this, a Death City wedding was what I wanted all along. It just feels more… right." He shrugged,

"Did you gotten hitched while I was out?" He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he knew it had been a few weeks,

"No not yet," Stein sighed, "Marie wants you there, and she doesn't trust another doctor to take care of you," He chuckled slightly, "That woman needs to learn a little selfishness now and then,"

"Well, I appreciate it a ton," Soul grinned, more than overjoyed that he was well enough to do that as well as converse normally now. He had even started walking around a little again.

"Not at all Soul, I look forward to you seeing me get married. Finally."

It was a month before he was out of the hospital. An entire month before he could continue his life from where he left off, but the thing was, he really only had one thing he needed to finish.

The door to their apartment shut behind him loudly,

"Oh! Tsubaki is that you? I can't study today I'm just about to go see Soul!" his favorite Meister called out to the hall,

"Awh that's too bad, I was _really _in the mood for some good old learning." Soul called back. There was silence from the other room before her heard a series of very quick footsteps, followed up by a pig tail clade Maka.

"You're here!" She shouted, running to him. She was about to embrace him when she stopped suddenly,

"I'm here," He laughed, "Are you scared of me now, or what?"

"I don't want to break you," She pursed her lips and he laughed,

"Trust me," He stepped in closer to her, "You won't,"

"I'm so glad you're home," She let her arms snake up his and rest on his strong shoulders,

"Yeah," He grinned, "No more nosey doctors,"

"Yeah," She grinned and something within him lit up like a match,

"Now let's do this properly," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. She tripped a little and laughed as he caught her, meeting her blush with his trademark grin before ducking his head down and kissing her with all he had in him.

Yeah. He was glad he was home too.

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><p><em>There you goo! Please tell me what you think! I love reviews :D <em>

_Also! I am getting around to writing the requests for this series. If any more of you guys have some, give er', I'll see what I can do!  
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_I promise I'll update again very soon. This one was just on my mind and I needed to get it out before I did the requests.  
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_SOON THOUGH. soon.  
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_LOVE YOU GUYS!  
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	5. Crash

_Hey guys! So this ones a little shorter, BUT I'm going to be updating again this week! So, that should make up for it ;D_

_I'm finally getting through the requests :D (which I'm super excited about)  
><em>

_So here's PoisonedScarlet's (who if you haven't read her stuff, do it now because holy shit) request!  
><em>

_ (more coming soon)  
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><p>.<p>

Crash

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Maka caught an overhead tree branch with one hand, swinging herself up and crouching onto it, holding Soul in his Scythe form delicately in her other hand she pushed off and jumped to the next tree in her path,

"Just fly! This is taking forever!" Soul shouted at her, his face appearing on the sleek metal,

"I _can't!" _ She shouted back, still continuing her acrobatics through the thick brush, "The trees are too thick, this forest is too big, he'll get away in a second, I can't maneuver quickly while I'm flying on you and if you tell me to _one more time _I'm going to kill you!" She missed the next branch in her anger and fell down quickly, branches slashing at her face and arms until she hit the ground hard,

"Careful." Soul said sarcastically as she stood up, swearing before taking off on foot deeper into the forest,

"I can't even see him anymore!" she said angrily,

"Ohh temper, temper," Soul scolded, smirking as Maka's anger rose,

"I can't take it anymore!" She shouted, throwing her weapon onto the ground, "Stop being such an ass!"

"Me?!" Soul said, turning back into human form, "You never listen to anything I say! You don't even _try _my ideas anymore!"

"Because they don't make any sense! Maybe if you listened in school more, then you would know better!" She turned on her heel and started running into the forest. Soul swore and chased after her,

"Whatever, whose the death scythe here, pigtails?"

That one earned him a Maka chop to the skull.

"And now this Kishin is getting away faster and faster!" She stomped her foot and stopped, "Okay, we'll try flying."

"THANK YOU!" Soul morphed quickly as Maka caught him lightly,

"Honestly, I'm surprised we can even Soul Resonate at this point, because _you _are ridiculous," She said as they flew up above the tree tops,

"Me? Oh God if you only knew how hard it was to deal with you, let alone _live _with you." He smirked when she muttered something about him being an asshole under her breath, but really, she couldn't complain. Because she _was _hard to deal with: this volatile, neat freak, bookworm, pigtailed _thing._ She was lucky to have anyone around her at all, let alone Soul Eater Evans: the cool guy, epitome of 'guys want to be him; girls want to be with him', but using cliché's didn't even work with him because Maka knew he was so much more than that. She sighed as she flew through the air, everything completely invisible under the tree tops. She wanted to be angry, but all these thoughts softened her a tad and she just shook her head,

"I can't see anything," She said, pressing her lips into a firm line, "And now there's a Kishin running around wreaking havoc,"

"He's in the woods, who is going to be in the woods?" Soul remarked, "except for like, an unhappy hiker or two?"

Maka shot him a look, "He's staying close to the waterline, there could be _lots _of people here!"

"Well I don't want them to die but I mean in comparison, to like, a big city or whatever. Never mind. Don't hit me." He laughed when she rolled her eyes at him, "We'll find him before he leaves the forest, and everything will be fine. Sorry for being an ass earlier," he grumbled the last park huskily and she smiled softly to herself.

They landed on the ground and Soul changed back to human, standing guard as Maka closed her eyes and concentrated hard on her soul perception. She blocked everything out apart from Kishin souls, not really caring about the random hikers in the woods: just wanting to find him, finish the job and go home. The whole day had just been hell so far, and she was ready for it to be over. Her eyes snapped open quickly and she turned her head to Soul,

"This way!" she shouted, Soul transforming instantly into her hand as she jumped on his blade and took off into the sky. Now that she knew where he was, she could fly to his general area and hit him with a surprise attack. Black Star would be so proud. She grinned to herself as they approached the area. The Kishin had stopped moving,

"He's resting there," Maka said quietly to Soul as she landed him, "We'll rush in and surprise him!"

"Maka! Wait!" Soul said but she ignored him, running headlong into the clearing she knew was just past these trees,

"Don't worry! I know exactly what I'm doing!" She whispered as she bolted through the trees,

"No I hear something weir—"

Maka burst through the trees, her Scythe held high and came face to face with a woman wearing a large white dress. She stopped for a moment as they stared at each other, blinking incredulously,

"Now you've done it," Soul whispered.

Maka looked around, Scythe still held above her head at the people all around her. She was standing in the middle of an aisle, surrounded by chairs. The trees she had burst through seemed to be what they were all facing and as she turned slowly she saw a minister and a man in a tux, both staring at her, mouths hanging open,

"Oh God." Maka muttered, "Oh God I'm so sorry!"

She lowered he scythe slowly,

"hah! Just uhm… just an accident!" She fumbled her words, "Just passing through here!" she awkwardly stood, the bride in front her suddenly burst into tears as all the people seemed to come alive at once, yelling and hollering as many of them stood up and started crowding around the two of them,

"Maka," Soul said pleasantly, still in his Scythe form, "Now might be a good time leave."

"Might be!" Maka jumped up on his blade and took off upwards before she realized something,

"NO WAIT!" She shouted, steering back down, plummeting them back towards the wedding,

"Are you _insane?!_" Soul shouted up at her, "That's someone's WEDDING!"

"He's there though! The Kishin!" She said, landing on the front of the stage,

"Oh God," Soul gritted out, "I'm not changing back: you can deal with this."

Maka cleared her throat as the guests stared at her again,

"Uhm, Hi everyone. Hi. So, uhm. I'm really sorry about all this, I really am," The groom stared at her, she couldn't figure out if he was surprised, angry, terrified, or a weird mixture of the three,

"Who do you think yo—"

"Oh, congratulations to you both," Maka said, bowing awkwardly. Soul snorted a laugh, trying desperately to supress exploding in uproarious laughter. Maka kicked him quickly scowling before turning her 'polite' attitude back on,

"Excuse me but—" the groom tried again to speak, but seemed intimidated by the large weapon she held. Soul figured it was the only reason no one had attacked her yet, and he hoped they wouldn't. This was just too hilarious.

"Sorry sir, but this is an emergency." She said gravely before turning chipper again, "So everyone, I just need a second here and then you can go back to your wedding!"

She stared out at the audience intensely, turning on her soul perception in a flash and seeing the Kishin sitting amongst the crowd. He paled when her eyes landed on him, standing to his feet and howling in anger.

"He's a less eloquent one this time, huh Maka?" Soul joked as she held him at the ready,

The crowd screamed in horror as he pushed his way out of them, almost throwing people in his attempt to escape. Maka was there in a flash, scythe held to his throat. The Kishin screamed once more, panic stricken and dove under her, taking her legs out as he did it. Maka crashed into the chairs that were set up, scattering them everywhere,

"RUN!" She commanded the guests, who all ran haphazardly into the woods, screaming and crying.

The Kishin lined up for another attack, obviously feeling confident from sending her into the chairs.

"Maka," Soul warned,

"I know," She gritted, barley dodging his head long run at her. He caught her side as he did, tearing her shirt and giving her a fairly deep cut as well,

She smashed through the chairs this time, determined to end this quickly.

"Let's do it!" Maka shouted as she and Soul resonated together,

"Witch hunter!" The two shouted in unison, sending the large beam of light through the chairs and straight towards the 'deer in the headlights' Kishin. It hit him square in the chest, ripping him half, sending spurts of dark blood all over the white flowers and linens. The light from the attack continued through the front of the make shift chapel and straight through into the trees, taking out everything in its path.

Maka stood there panting as Soul morphed back into his human form,

"Heey," he smiled at her, "That wasn't so hard!"

She grinned through her exhaustion, "Not so hard at all!"

Soul meandered over to the glowing red Kishin egg and took it happily,

"Thanks for the meal," He winked at Maka before swallowing it whole.

"Y-YOU!" The bride had returned, with the entire wedding behind her. Her dress was torn and dirty, Maka could only imagine she had fallen in the woods a few times. A bedraggled bouquet in her hands and she stomped over to the pigtail clade girl,

"Hi! I'm sorry about all this but—"

"YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!" the woman shouted at her,

"Okay, that's probably a bit of an exaggeration," Maka defended as Soul cleared his throat, "What?" She said turning to him. He had his eyebrows raised, and seemed to be trying not to laugh as he gestured to the mess around him with his head.

Maka stopped and looked around her. Everything had been flattened, covered in blood or just destroyed all together in the fight,

"Oh… Uhm…" She backed away from the furious woman,

"Time to go," Soul said happily as he turned back into Scythe.

Maka spent no time stalling as she jumped on him again and took off straight into the sky, the angry bride still screaming after them.

"Well," Maka pursed her lips, "That could have gone better,"

"Eh," Soul laughed lightly, "Weddings are over-rated anyway."

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><p><em>.<br>_

_Hope you enjoyed! I'm still taking requests, and I'm doing my best to get through them all :D_

_SOooo please Review, Request, and be awesome.  
><em>

_Love you guys!  
><em>


	6. Nerves

_This is a request for Kaoru97, who asked for this for her birthday FOREVER ago, so, I'M SO SORRY but I did end up writing one anywayy so don't be maddd?_

_I hope you like it! _

_Thanks so much you guys!_

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><p>Nerves<p>

"Dude," Black Star stared at his best friend seriously, "Just do it."

Soul exhaled in annoyance,

"Shut up. I know! I will…"

"You've been saying that for like two months." The assassin was growing tired of Soul's constant trepidation about the whole subject, and frankly wanted to move on to something more interesting: like maybe, and he was just thinking off the top of his head here: himself.

"Okay but this time I actually will," Soul defended. Black Star rolled his eyes as the white haired weapon continued, "It wasn't the right time before!"

"How about this, how about you stop being such a pussy-bitch and just get it over with, god dammit!" He slammed his hand down on the table.

"Shut up. I will! I just don't want to fuck this up!" Soul ran is hand through his hair, clearly annoyed, "It's not like I'm hurting anyone by waiting a little longer."

"Wrong. You're pissing me off! Stop being such an asshole and just ask her already! I'm sick of you constantly being weird about everything. Be a man about it!"

"Thanks Black Star," Soul deadpanned, clearly not impressed with his motivational speech.

"What? Are you scared she's going to say no or something?"

"No."

"Ohhh I see." Black Star smirked at his friend,

Soul sighed, not ready for whatever it was Black Star was going to say to him, "What?"

"You're not ready! You're not sure you want to do this!"

"Oh God. You're so completely wrong, stop being such a girl. When I say I'm just waiting for the right time, I mean it. I'm not lying to you. Christ." Soul stood to his feet,

"I bet you're carrying the ring with you right now, aren't you?" Black Star raised his eyebrows when Soul hesitated for a moment,

"No." He lied,

"OH REEEEALLY?" Black Star pounced from across the table as Soul swore loudly. The two crashed to the ground as they wrestled around,

"For the love of—Black star! Stop being such a kid!"

"Let me see in your pockets then!"

"No! Fuck off!"

"Just—"

"I will turn into a Scythe, don't think I won't!"

"Then I'll blast you with my soul wavelength!"

The two tumbled around the kitchen swearing at each other until Black Star found exactly what he was looking for and stood up triumphantly, the small black box in his hands,

"AH HAH!" He stood and laughed obnoxiously, a common victory announcement. Soul stared up at him from the linoleum and scowled,

"Okay, you win. Give it back." He gritted,

"Nope! Maybe _I'll _go propose to her, since you're being such a coward about it." He laughed again when Soul sighed and stood up, brushing off his black pants.

"If you want to propose to a girl so bad, ask Tsubaki to marry you. You live together anyway." Soul snatched the box from his friend and shoved it back into his pocket,

"Tch. No. I don't exactly uphold the same, 'family values' as you do, obviously." He sank into his chair, putting his feet on the table,

"Don't do that, Maka will kill me." Soul said, pushing his friend's feet off of where the couple ate dinner,

"Shit, you're married already. All you have left is the damn ceremony- oh, and you manning up."

He was being so uncool. It wasn't a big deal, he _wanted _marry that stupid girl, and he was pretty sure she wanted to marry him.

Pretty sure.

He sighed and shook his head, shifting his weight uncomfortably,

He just needed to do what Black Star said, just get it done.

Just ask.

Just do it and then move on, no matter what he answer was.

"Soul!"

His stomach tightened as his meister called from down the hall,

"Have you seen my purse?" She yelled from her room

"No." He said back evenly from the living room.

She was taking forever. She was making him even more nervous than he already was. All he wanted to do was take her out to his fancy restaurant and ask her to marry him, but nooo she had to take forever to get ready and lose her purse and for some reason move slower than a-

He was being ridiculous now.

"Are you sure? I just had it!" She shouted again,

"For fucks sake! No! I don't know where it is!" He snapped, instantly regretting his outburst. She was silent and he peered around the corner, inhaling sharply. She was in her room when she muttered,

"Well so-orry. God."

* * *

><p>Maka rifled through her room, frustrated beyond belief. She just had her purse not five minutes ago and now it was missing. She huffed, throwing the sweater in her hand on the ground and falling back onto her bed.<p>

This was stupid.

She didn't even want to go out when Soul was in a mood like this.

She tugged at the hem of her black dress as she gritted her teeth. Soul had been in a bad mood for the better part of a month it seemed and it was driving her completely insane. She didn't claim to know everything that went on in her partner/boyfriend's head, but she usually could tell what he was thinking somewhat.

This was just so beyond her.

Maybe she should tap into his wavelength and just—

Or maybe not. That was invasive and if there was one thing that she and Soul needed to be able to do was remain weapon partners regardless of their relationship status.

Which right now she was _really _worried about because things did NOT seem to be going exactly as planned.

He was so angry lately. Everything seemed to set him off, and every time they planned something fun or nice to do he would act weird the whole time before going home angrily and going straight to bed without a second word.

_His own _bed.

Not that it mattered, but they hadn't been very physical lately.

She sat on the edge of her bed and sighed, her stomach tightening.

What if Soul was going to break up with her?

Well, it didn't matter. She didn't _need_ a guy to keep her happy or secure or whatever. She didn't even care. Men weren't important.

She thought she was going to be sick.

Soul was the only person she wanted around permanently: the only _man_ she wanted around at all. She was in love him with and she didn't ever want to have to get over him breaking up with her.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she swallowed thickly.

"Maka," She heard him from the living room and her heart picked up speed, "Let's go, okay?"

She stood shakily to her feet and taking a deep breath strode through the door.

"Coming,"

* * *

><p>This was so awkward. In fact, this was the most awkward thing he could imagine. The two of them had both ordered food. <em>Expensive<em> food; and neither of them was even touching their respective meals.

She was probably mad at him. He was mad at himself so it made perfect sense for her to be as well. He was being a total idiot. He was rude, angry, frustrated and generally an asshole.

How could he ask her now? She probably would _scream _a 'no' at him and storm out.

He wouldn't blame her.

"So…" He started. Maka's eyes snapped up at him from the ravioli she was toying with,

"Yeah?" she said with obvious trepidation.

Soul ran a hand through his hair, slumping back into his chair,

"Look, Maka, I'm really sorry…"

He saw her eyes widen: an expression of obvious panic. His guilt deepened along with his insecurity.

"Um, Soul…" She chewed on her lip, shrinking back a little,

"What is it?"

"Do you…" She waited for him to interrupt her, but he just held her gaze, "Have something you want to tell me?" she finally offered.

"I—Well—" He wasn't expecting her to say something like that. Maybe she had found out. Fucking Black Star. He shouldn't have told him. He probably told Tsubaki who probably found told Maka because that's just how girls were and now it was ruined and everything was falling apart and— when did he get this pissed off about the whole situation?

"How did you find out?" He said grimly. He didn't _do _nervous. This was him trying to overcome it and crashing and burning in a blaze of his own self-importance, because he wasn't the one that was important anymore. It was all Maka. God knows it had been for a long time.

"I just figured is all…" She looked down at her lap sadly. So, she didn't want this after all. He probably looked like such a jackass.

"It was Black Star wasn't it? Fuck. I knew I shouldn't have told him-I'm such an idiot." He shook his head angrily.

"It wasn't anyone Soul! You've just been acting weird; it wasn't hard to figure out." Any trace of sadness seemed to be replaced by anger in a flash. Not that that was a rare occurrence for her.

"So… You don't want me to then?" He glanced around the restaurant; people were starting to stare.

"Of course I don't want you to!" This was getting indignant.

"Oh. Okay."

"But I'm not going to like… keep things as we are if you're unhappy." She muttered, slumping back into her chair.

Maybe it was his turn to be angry now.

"Well I'm not going to make _you _unhappy! I just thought this was what you wanted!" The ring box weighed a thousand pounds in his pocket.

"Why in death's name would I want this?!"

Ouch.

"Is this because of your stupid dad?" Soul gritted.

The look of absolute appal on her face seemed to confirm that one for him.

"Pardon me?!"

"You're scared of serious commitment because your dad is a cheating whore. I'm not like that Maka! I thought you knew that." He didn't _mean _to sound so hurt; he really hated the way the words sounded coming out.

Why did he do this in a public place?

"How does that have _anything _to do with this situation?" She hissed.

The waiter approached the table awkwardly. Soul didn't even look at him, instead he and Maka held each other's gaze: seething.

"How's everything going?" The waiter had clearly heard most of their argument, and his awkward, fake concern was grating.

"It's _lovely." _Soul said through gritted teeth.

"Oh. Oh well good. I'll be back to uh—check on you later," The man smiled before scurrying away.

Maka continued to stare at him, her mouth pressed into a line. He stared straight back, not wanting to give her any ground.

He finally opened his mouth to speak and she seemed to perk up a little.

"I'm sorry." he said evenly.

"Whatever." She finally looked away, focusing on the hem of the table cloth.

"Maka, honestly how was I supposed to know this is how you'd react?" He said quietly.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. She kinda—exploded.

"What did you want me to do Soul!?" She was on her feet. He couldn't help but look around at the other patrons who were all staring at the couple with wide eyes. She didn't seem to care, "I fucking _love _you! You know that!? And I believed you when you told me that you loved me!"

"Uh—What?" If he thought he was confused before, this was a whole new universe of confusion.

"Shut up! I'm not done! You want to break up-FINE. That's fine! But how DARE you assume that I'd take that lightly and not get upset!" Tears were streaming down her face, "You always told me you'd never do something like this! You _always _said that!"

He didn't mean to smile. He _REALLY _didn't mean to; it was just that, she thought he was going to break up with her. That was the stupidest thing she could have thought, and the most wrong thing in the world. He couldn't help it: a chuckle escaped his lips.

"YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY, DO YOU?!" She bellowed from across the table, slamming her hands down, silverware bouncing and both glasses of water spilling all over everything.

Soul reached into his pocket without a word,

"You know what! FUCK YOU!" She turned to leave but he was quicker than her. He was off his chair in a flash and caught her around the wrist.

She turned back quickly.

"What do you wa—"

She stopped; her eyes wide as she looked down at him.

He was on one knee, the ring box open and held out to her in the hand that wasn't wrapped tightly around her wrist.

"Will you… uh… marry me?"

He made a face, for once having no actual idea what was going to happen next.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously,

"M-marry you?" She whispered,

"Yeah, you know like… have a big old party, invite the folks, kiss. Be together forever, all that?" He smiled at her awkwardly. He could feel everyone in the restaurant watching them. It was like the whole room had stopped breathing.

Dead silence.

"You don't want to break up with me?" She squeaked out,

"Um, no: the opposite of that actually," He exhaled, "So…?"

She paused for a moment before her face lit up like he had never seen. He felt his chest warm as a big tear spilled down her cheek,

"Well, obviously I'll marry you," She sobbed while simultaneously laughing.

He took the ring from the box and shakily put it on her finger as she beamed down at him.

"Well, thank fuck for that."

All the tension and nerves of the last two months rolled off of him as he stood to his feet and picked her up into his arms, her head in his neck, her laughter shaking her whole body,

"Do you have to say it like that?" She sniffed, still grinning at him,

"Yes," He held her tightly and laughed.

He didn't even notice everyone in the restaurant applauding until he calmed down enough.

It wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but it worked. She had said yes.

He felt like an idiot for even thinking she would say no, and more of an idiot for acting like enough of a jackass that she thought he was going to break up with her.

Figures. Silly girlfriend.

Oh, wait. No.

Silly _Fiancé._

She leaned up and their lips met. He couldn't help but smile through their feverish kiss.

He dug into his pocket and tossed a pile of bills at the table, still planting little kisses on her mouth every couple of seconds, he picked her up and made is way out of the restaurant.

She giggled excitedly as they toppled haphazardly into the back of his car.

* * *

><p><em>AN:_

_ Hey guys! I know I've been really bad at updating, I'm just working on a lot of other writing projects so I've been a little overwhelmed, but I'm trying to finish a bunch more of these. Sorry for taking so long to get through requests! But I am doing my best!_

_Don't forget to Review! Request if you'd like :D_

_Love you guys!_


	7. Recurrence

_A/N: Hey guys! I know I sound like a broken record but, would you forgive me if again I said I was sorry for taking so long to write another?_

_This ones long so maybe that'll help._

_Forgive meee! With the manga ending and everything sadness abounds. _

_I hope people still care about Soul and Maka, I know I still do!_

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

Recurrence

.

.

"Okay. Yep. Sure. No, no it's fine." Maka stared down at the kitchen table in front of her, tapping her fingers against the hardwood, her cell phone clutched in her hand.

"No," she faked a laugh, "Yeah mom, I'll be there," She hadn't realised how hard she was holding the phone until her knuckles started hurting,

_Stop gritting your teeth. Stop gritting your teeth._

"Congratulations mom," She finally said, her throat tightening. Her mother chatted away happily on the other end, telling her details of things she couldn't care less about.

Soul stuck his head around the corner from the hallway, holding two ties: red and black. He held them up and made a face. Maka shook her head,

"Which one," he mouthed, putting one to his neck, over his grey pullover, and then switching to the other. She waved him away, mouthing a:

"Not now," back at him. She turned her body away from him and brought her free hand to cover her ear.

"Yeah I'm still listening, it sounds great,"

He sighed, clearly exasperated before going back to the bathroom mirror to struggle alone.

"Oh, that's okay. No, no really I don't know what I'd even say to him. I'll meet him when I come down," She just wanted this moment to end. However she was supposed to feel, this wasn't it. Her mother was telling her loads of information she knew she'd forget, but no matter how much she told herself to focus it just wasn't going to happen.

This was really out of left field.

"Tell him I say congratulations too. And that I'm… I'm really excited to meet him." She swallowed hard when her mother erupted in childlike giggles. Was this even the same woman?

Maka said a few curt goodbyes, trying her hardest to sound excited and hung up the phone.

There was a moment of stillness in the room before Maka's hand slammed down hard against the table, letting her cell phone sit unceremoniously in front of her. She slumped further down into the chair she was sitting in. She heard Soul in the bathroom, whatever he was noisily doing coming to an abrupt stop. She crossed her arms over her stomach and set her face into a perfect scowl.

There were a lot of things Kami Albarn wasn't. She wasn't the best mother, she wasn't the best wife, she wasn't a necessarily _warm _person, she wasn't nurturing, she wasn't present, and she wasn't sentimental. But everyone, _everyone _knew if there was one thing Kami was: it was responsible. She had a good head on her shoulders, she thought through situations thoroughly before acting. She was clever.

These were traits that made her a good Meister; traits that Maka had inherited.

So Maka always knew what and why when it came to her mother. She understood when Kami did something. Maka _always _understood because her mother was like her and Maka didn't do childish irresponsible things and that was it.

So…

What in Death's name was her mother doing?

Maka hadn't even known her mother was _seeing _someone let alone planning on _marrying _someone.

It was clearly an impulse, she could tell from the way Kami spoke about the man. Puppy love. Not something to build a lifetime around.

Maka's stomach tightened as she realized maybe she didn't know her mother quite like she thought she did. Maybe her marriage to her father had been just as impulsive. Maybe that's why it was so easy for her to pack up and leave, regardless of any child.

And now, her mother wanted her to get on a goddamn plane to go to her goddamn tropical wedding on her goddamn island with her goddamn fiancé.

She was starting to sound like an angry Black Star.

Maka stood up briskly, her chair scraping backwards loudly on the linoleum.

She walked briskly around the corner, headed toward her bedroom. She stopped abruptly when she saw Soul, leaning against the wall.

She froze for a minute before sighing, about to walk past him. His hand caught her forearm lightly and she stopped, standing beside him, neither of them looking at each other.

"What happened," He muttered huskily.

She just shook her head.

"You're upset," He said, bowing his head a little towards her.

"It's just stupid." She sighed, pulling her arm from his grasp.

She wasn't going to cry. She _definitely _wasn't going to cry because she was better than that. The whole thing was stupid and she wasn't going to cheapen herself by crying about it because it wasn't even worth tears.

Her eyes started to well up. Betrayed again by overly passionate tear ducts.

Soul shook his head at her,

"You know, this is normally the part where I ask whose ass I get to kick, but seeing as it was your mother on the phone, I don't think that would do me any good,"

She hiccupped a small laugh as a tear spilled down her cheek.

"Yeah. So. This will have to do." He muttered as he closed the space between them, lightly wrapping an arm around her shoulders, his other arm cradling her head into his chest.

It was too much. She was too upset and having someone, especially him, offer her the opportunity to let it out, broke the floodgates open. She was frozen for only a moment before she buried her face into his sweater and started crying.

He didn't even know what had happened, but if it was like this he knew it was something bad. Kami was a touchy issue with Maka anyway, but when push came to shove, he knew his meister was more bark than bite about her family issues.

Her arms wrapped around his torso, her hands knotting into the back of his sweater.

She didn't trust men: that much she wore on her sleeve, but her feelings of abandonment and distrust about any figure that was supposed to care about her were more deep seeded and, as Soul knew all too well, deteriorated her tough, 'no bullshit' act in a manner of seconds.

So yeah, it was bad and it sucked and she was crying and he hated it.

It pissed him off, frankly.

Because why would anyone want to fuck off and leave this stupid, beautiful, perfect girl in the first place, and why would that same person want to continually ruin any good thing she had going for her?

Kami could suck a dick in his opinion.

He leaned his head onto hers as her sobs lessened. He could feel her warm tears soaking through his sweater and onto his collar. He didn't mind. In fact, quite the opposite.

"Okay," He hummed softly, untangling her from him a little and slowly moving her arms to around his neck. She complied easily, her usual pride and stubbornness replaced by grateful compliance.

She leaned her head against the crook of his neck as he lifted her gently off the ground, pushing the door to her room open with a soft kick. He sat down on her bed, letting her sniffle on his lap for a little while longer before slowly moving the two of them into a horizontal position.

He lay on his side, one arm propped on his elbow, leaning his head on it as he watched her lying in front of him. Their feet tangled together, his other arm was draped over her waist in a way she wouldn't know was protective.

It was little sobs and small voices from her now as she focused on his chest still, her head on the soft, pink pillow. She would every so often lean her head forward and nuzzle him slightly.

"So, you had no idea about this guy?"

She shook her head,

"No," she closed her eyes lightly, "I just…" She took a deep breath and he felt his eyebrows knit together,

"Yeah?" He encouraged,

"I just kind of… feel like she leaving all over again," She sighed, opening her eyes to look up at her weapon. They were red and puffy and it was this horrible guttural feeling whenever she looked at him like that.

"So let her," he muttered, "You don't need her Maka, you didn't back then and you don't now either."

She nodded slightly,

"I thought that maybe now… Now that you're a death scythe, now that I'm as good as her… I thought that maybe that would be enough for her," Another hot tear fell down her cheek, "I thought maybe now she could be what I wanted her to be when I was a kid,"

He couldn't beat up a woman, he couldn't beat up Maka's _mom _but dear fucking god did he have some words for her if he ever saw her again.

"She'll never be that for one simple reason: she sucks. She doesn't know how lucky she is. Listen to me,"

He moved his hand from her waist to lift her chin slightly,

"Believe every word I say when I tell you that it's her fucking loss."

Despite herself, Maka blushed.

.

.

.

So this is what precipitated Soul Eater Evans to be standing in this too-big ball room in his too-tight tie with his too-uptight meister clung to his arm.

They had managed to sneak into the ceremony last minute, snagging a seat in the back without so much time as to greet the people sitting beside them. Maka _really _didn't want to talk to her mother. She had had her usual reaction to anything that caused her intense emotional pain: after sadness came fiery anger. So that meant the small fireball of a girl had planned everything to an overthought T. She made sure they hadn't even set food in the same country as her mother until late the night before the actual wedding.

Despite her anger over the whole thing, Maka was a good person, and an undeservedly good daughter. She wouldn't miss her mother's wedding, no matter how impulsive it all seemed, and no matter how much it hurt Maka.

And because Soul had to watch the whole thing eat the girl from the inside out, he was in an unusually foul mood.

The ceremony was probably, in all actuality, short. Soul would remember it as some of the longest 20 minutes of his life. The entire thing was spent watching Maka from the corner of his eye as she squirmed uncomfortably in the pew, as she tried to subtly look away when the couple kissed, as she pretended to be too intently focused on getting her purse and coat to look her mother in the eye when she walked up the aisle and out the churches doors.

In short, it was the epitome of "too much" and Soul couldn't wait till he was back home, playing video games with Maka's legs in his lap as she read happily on the couch beside him. She'd look up at him; he'd look over for a second, just fast enough to catch her flashing him one of her most beautiful smiles before ducking her head back into her book.

Maybe it was a bad time to decide he was in love with her.

Maybe he shouldn't tell her that quite yet.

Maybe when they were home or maybe a few years from now or maybe never.

He wasn't sure. But what he _was _sure about was that everything they ever did now screamed to him about his unspoken affections for the girl, and this whole wedding ordeal was no exception: in fact, it had the opposite effect. Being angry all the time at everyone who made Maka's grip on his arm tighten was exhausting in a way that made it all worth it.

The two now stood in the corner of a large ballroom; the reception had gotten started shortly after the ceremony. The guests were now _eagerly _awaiting the bride and groom to join the festivities, so naturally, Maka had subtly hinted at them hiding in the corner, which they now were doing. Soul had guzzled his first beer upon arrival, and now held another in his hand lightly.

He was suddenly thankful for all the forced parties and formal family events he was made to go to throughout most of his young life. A little part of him was happy it wasn't his family hosting this; a bigger part empathised with Maka for being in that situation.

His hand absently made its way to the small of the girls back as he leaned down,

"Want me to fake sick," He muttered, "And we can get outta here?" He smirked and raised an eyebrow. He saw the corners of her mouth twitch up before she rolled her eyes,

"You know I'd love that, but…" She chewed on her lip,

"But you're too much of a good person. Let me tell you something kid—"

Maka shot him a look, she hated when he called her that,

"Er… Maka." He recovered, grinning guiltily, "Fuck all these people,"

"I don't want STD's." She muttered. He laughed outright; the petulant girl's attitude was his favorite. Well, it was his favorite when it wasn't directed at him.

Just as Soul went to take another swig from his beer, the MC got everyone's attention as the doors of the room burst open in a flurry of music and party poppers. Maka's mother and her new husband glided through the doors, laughing and waving happily.

.

.

.

Maka hated to admit it, but her mother looked beautiful. She was elegant in a way Maka was sure she would never grow into being. Her father would dote about how much she looked like her mother but she knew it wasn't true. Although older and more developed, the stark difference was her astonishingly boyish… assets… Maka settled on. She was no Tsubaki, and she was no Kami.

Not that she minded much anymore, but it was just another thing to feel mopey about which, at this time, was all Maka wanted to feel. She was miserable. She wanted the whole room to be miserable with her which brought annoying truth to the statement her entire lifestyle seemed to embrace.

"Misery loves company," Maka breathed to herself.

"Want me to kill someone's cat for you or..?" Soul didn't look down at her as he took another drink from the bottle,

"Please." She hissed. He smiled, turning towards her. She was watching her mother gush to a small crowd of people Maka didn't recognise: she could see from their wavelengths that they were pairs of weapons and meisters,

"Are those death scythes?" She asked Soul, pointing to the crowd,

"Naw," he said, "We'd know them if they were. Just older Meisters and shit, probably graduated with your mom," He shrugged,

Maka considered it briefly. They were her school friends, probably. She wondered if she got married at a random time to a random guy she had randomly met if Black Star and Kidd and Tsubaki and the Thompsons would all show up. Would she stand in front of them, blushing and laughing and twirling around in her big stupid dress? Would Oxford shake his head and say something rude? Would they all pretend to be nice?

She blinked the idea away because she knew it would never happen. Her whole life she had thought of her mother as the same as her. She wasn't her father, so of course she was her mother. Kami Albarn, through and through. Professors had said it to her, Lord Death himself had told her _countless _times she reminded him of her mother but now…

It wasn't true. It wasn't true at all.

She turned to Soul,

"That's not me," she said pointing to her mother. To her surprise, she didn't get a sarcastic comment. He didn't even laugh,

"No," he said seriously, "No it's not."

She was slightly taken aback for a moment, not expecting him to so quickly understand her. She pressed on,

"No I mean, I'm not like that,"

"Yeah I know that's what you mean," now he smiled slightly, his voice still serious, "You're not Kami, I never thought you were."

She opened her mouth to say something, but her words were cut off by a very… Spirit Albarn like noise.

It was her mother, crooning her name from across the room as she ran towards her.

"MAAAKAAAA!" Her mother giggled. Maka froze, stiff as a board as every eye in the room seemed to turn towards her. Kami approached the girl and pulled her in to a tight embrace. Soul stepped to the side and regarded the pair, a polite smile on his face.

"Baby!" Kami said, squeezing her daughter tightly,

"Mom," Maka breathed in return,

"I'm so glad you're here!" She released her and Maka stumbled a little, catching herself slightly, "I was worried I wouldn't see you," She frowned,

"Of course I'm here," She tried desperately to sound cheery, "I wouldn't miss it for the world,"

Her mother beamed at her before turning towards Soul,

"So… Is this him?" She said slowly,

"Oh," Maka flushed for a moment, her head spinning, "Yeah, sorry, this is Soul, my uh—"

"Weapon," Soul finished, outstretching a hand to Kami, "Pleasure to meet you,"

Kami took his hand gingerly and shook it, her expression changing slightly,

"Soul right? Maka tells me you're a Scythe weapon," She said, her words sounding thicker,

"That's right," He replied, not missing the change in the woman's expression,

"My first weapon was a Scythe, did you know that?"

Soul snorted a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest, "Yeah, I knew that. Sprit Albarn. You made him a Death Scythe."

"Youngest Meister to ever do it too!" She beamed proudly,

"Um…" Maka squeaked, "Actually…"

"Actually that's Maka." Soul interjected, a smug look on his face. Kami looked stunned,

"Pardon me?" She turned to her daughter

"Well, yeah. I told you I had made Soul a Death Scythe. That was about a year ago and I guess when you made dad—"

"Spirit." Kami interrupted her,

"Er, right. When you made _Spirit_ a Death Scythe you were five years older than me." Maka looked down nervously. When she looked back up to her mother's expression, it was cold.

"Not that it matters!" Maka put her hands up in front of her, "I mean, everyone knows you're the most—"

Kami's face burst into a grin,

"Of course it matters!" She took her daughters hands, "You're so amazing! Like mother like daughter. Everyone knows you're just like me," She beamed down at her, "I'm so proud of you!"

Maka didn't know what she was feeling. It was strange, because that was what she had always wanted her mother to say. It felt wrong all over. She had _told _her mother all this before, was she just not listening? Maka always thought she was a calm and thoughtful woman, much like herself. When Kami had little to no reaction to it, it wasn't because of indifference, Maka had told herself, it was because she was quietly contemplating whatever it was. She felt pride for her daughter, but she held it in.

Or… Not. As Maka noted as her mother grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from Soul. Kami started talking quickly to a nearby friend of hers about how amazing her little girl was and how she had "good genes" to thank for it. She didn't miss throwing in a few hateful comments about Spirit however.

So. This was it. This is what her night was going to be. Maka resigned to it. She wasn't getting out of being toted around like an accessory and by the time she had met, as her mother had introduced him, her new "Dad" Maka had made a decision.

She was going to drink, and drink a lot.

.

.

.

Anyone who knew Maka knew she didn't drink. She didn't drink for a lot of reasons. Soul knew these reasons better than anyone because he got to get the list of reasons every morning after _his_ drunken binges. Not that he'd had one in a while; it seemed a little juvenile now.

But the point was: she didn't drink.

"It makes everyone act like complete idiots," she'd lecture, "You're sick in the morning, you forget the night you just had, you do things and say things you'd never mean and it's not even a little bit worth it," she'd almost always nod her head at that point, trying to drive the speech home.

It was cute.

What Soul was looking at now, wasn't as cute.

He had lost track of the girl when Kami pulled her away. He felt guilty for leaving her side, but it was something she really did have to sort out with her mother.

He regretted it right now.

There she was, slumped over a white clothed table, sitting in a chair. She had been discarded by her mother apparently, who was dancing on the tiled floor with a group of her friends. The whole thing would probably have been easier handled if he himself hadn't had a few to drink as well.

The young man beside her had his head close to hers and seemed to be whispering something into her ear. Maka sat up abruptly,

"You want to go _where?" _She slurred, leaning in towards the dark haired boy. The boy laughed and reached up to touch one of her pig tails. Soul's stomach tightened. He took a sure step forward as he watched Maka's eyes lazily wander to the boys hand on her hair, her expression confused.

Soul was about to interject, rudely and fiercely to the asshole who was trying to take advantage of her when Maka's expression snapped to fury,

"DO NOT TOUCH ME," she roared drunkenly, standing with a large sway and trying to swat at the boy but instead sending empty shot glasses shattering across the table. The boy leapt back and Soul moved quickly towards Maka, catching her hand by the wrist quickly. She struggled against him, still staring at the dark haired boy in front of her.

"Let go of me I want to find Soul!" She seemed to cry like a lost kitten, "Where's Soul!" He could see tears welling up in her eyes as he turned her into him,

"Shh! Maka it's okay!" He soothed, holding her against him firmly, "It's me! It's me." She calmed for a moment and sucked in a deep breath, her eyes focusing on him,

"Soul?" She squeaked,

"Yeah, idiot." he said down to her. She blinked up at him a few times before burying in her face in his chest,

"I want to go home," He heard her mumble into the fabric of his dark dress shirt,

"Yeah me too," He replied, rolling his eyes.

"Hey buddy!" The dark haired boy spoke, "She's with me!"

Soul raised his eyebrows, trying his best not to laugh loudly,

"Yeah," He chuckled, "_Clearly."_

"She is! I'll take her home." He approached the couple and Soul's expression hardened; he moved Maka on to his arm, but she ducked behind him.

"Fucking _try it," _Soul drawled, his red eyes flaring, although sounding nonchalant, his words came out with as much venom as he thought they might, "There are few things that would make me happier right now than kicking someone's ass, so please," He held his arms out, "Try to 'take her home',"

The boy paused for a moment,

"You're not so tough," he said quietly.

He _hardly _meant to, but Soul just did _not _want to deal with this. He was a little tipsy, the day was a little too long and he was pissed off. Actually, he was furious. Everything had finally worn on him too much. He felt his forearms slip into scythe blades with a quick flash of light. The boy stumbled over himself, startled,

"A Scythe Weapon?!" He exclaimed, "Oh fucking shit," The boy stammered, "You're not… are you…? Soul Eater?"

Soul's face cracked into a threatening grin, feeling his eyes widen. He was about to hiss something terrible at the boy when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt,

"Soul…" he heard a small voice coo. He felt instantly guilty, his Scythes retracting back into his arms. He had hadn't noticed the small crowd now gathered around the three of them. The music was playing but everyone was watching the stupid scene unfolding.

Oops.

He turned around and looked at Maka, she was swaying slightly as she looked up at him with those big doe eyes that always melted his stupid heart.

He briefly wondered how much she had to drink before remembering the piles of empty shot glasses at the table she was sitting at when he finally found her.

"If you're going to fight," A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Please do it outside," It was Kami's new husband. He wasn't angry or anything, in fact, he seemed a little encouraging. Kami was standing beside him, smiling broadly,

"As long as it's all in good fun," She said, "I'd love to see my little girl in action!"

Soul's mouth fell open as many guests started happily agreeing with one another.

"Uh," he said, looking down again at his _obviously _inebriated meister, "No I think we're good,"

"Oh come on!" Kami sang, pulling the dark haired boy by the arm, "He's a technician too! You'll have to hold back quite a bit but—"

"No." Soul said firmly, taking Maka's hand, "We're leaving." He started to pull her through the crowd, now expressing disappointment when Kami grabbed Maka's arm,

"Maka," Kami's voice cut through the crowd. Soul felt Maka's hand fall from his own. He turned to see her mother now holding her my the shoulders,

"Mom I…"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun! I never get the chance to see you, you never come visit me! It'll be like a wedding present for your mom, hm?" Kami brushed the hair out of Maka's face briefly as she spoke.

"I don't want to," She replied quietly,

"Oh hush, I would do it if you asked me," Kami was now pulling Maka back to where the dark haired technician was still standing,

"Yeah but…"

Soul pushed through the crowd after the two women, swearing under his breath. Kami stopped and turned toward her daughter once more,

"Maka. Everyone knows you've grown up to be just like me, this is your chance to show everyone how well I've raised you! Now, don't you want to make me happy?"

He was sure that if Maka was sober, this would have played out differently. She would have smiled, maybe nodded, shrugged, gotten out of the situation and beaten herself up about the whole thing later. Or maybe not, because if there was one thing he knew: it was not to push Maka too far. Kami had just pushed her too far.

Maka tore her arm away from her mother's grasp.

"How well you raised me?" Maka hissed, loud enough for the crowd around them to become interested in the scene once more.

"Maka, what—"

"You left, mom!" She shouted, "I haven't seen you in years and that was all your choice!"

"Oh come on honey you know I—"

"You never trained me; you were never there for me and you _certainly _never tried very hard to make _me _happy!" She had slightly pushed Kami away from her, the crowd of people now pretending not to be watching the embarrassing situation. Soul on the other hand, was very actively watching it.

"Maka, are you _drunk_?" Her mother hissed down at her,

"Maybe," She replied, eyes narrowed.

"Oh honey," kami laughed, "A girl after my own heart I—"

"You're wrong." Maka said with startling finality.

"Hm?"

"I'm not like you. I never want to be like you and I've never been more proud to say that," She turned and walked briskly away, her mother called out after her but Maka ignored her and kept walking.

Soul hurried after her, stumbling slightly at her fast pace. He heard Kami laugh awkwardly before shouting about seeing the two of them tomorrow.

.

.

.

By the time they had made it back to the hotel, Maka had calmed down significantly. Soul wasn't really sure if she even remembered anything happening.

After fumbling with the keycard for a few seconds, he finally got the hotel room door opened. Maka was leaning against the wall, staring up at the light fixtures, her head lolling from side to side slightly. He paused for a moment and sighed before extending his hand,

"Come on drunkie," he said, "Let's go to bed,"

To his absolute surprise, her face lit up.

"Okay!" she sang, raising one eyebrow. She dashed past him into the room, a new sort of energy to her as she grabbed his hand and pulled him after her. The jerk of the impact made him trip slightly, almost falling flat on his face, but regaining his footing enough just in time for her to fall onto the bed, and pull him on top of her.

"Fucking hell woman," he said, moving to get off of her, "Be careful!"

She snaked her arms around his neck quickly, preventing him from removing himself from her.

"Noo," she said, grinning stupidly, "Stay here,"

He paused for a moment, giving her a confused look,

"I need to close the door, pigtails."

She huffed and let go, giving him the chance to climb off of her and do just that. He locked it before leaning his head against it. As if the night wasn't long enough already.

"I hate it when you call me that," he heard a small voice behind him say. He turned and found her sitting on the bed, arms crossed, dress splayed around her legs which were folded under her,

"Yeah I know," he smirked, "that's why I do it, right?"

She pouted and looked away grumpily,

"And to think I was gonna thank you for saving me," She grumbled.

He laughed lightly, taking off his suit jacket and kicking off his shoes in one quick motion before lazily falling onto the bed beside her. He propped himself up on his elbows and turned towards her,

"_I _saved you?" he raised his eyebrows, "I seem to remember _you_ saving you. And rather eloquently I might add for someone in your state." He reached up, the palm of his hand on her cheek, his fingers slightly in her nape. He felt her face heat up for just a second before her eyes closed and she leaned into his hand, her own coming up and holding his wrist gently. She took a slow, deep breath before sighing happily.

He was surprised to see her like this. She was so… affectionate. She was so beautiful. He was so in love with her.

Her eyes opened and she looked down at him for only a moment before moving quickly towards him, her eyes focused on his mouth.

She was so drunk.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" He said, retracting his hand and grabbing her shoulders, "Stop." He said, holding her back. She squirmed a little before her brows tightened,

"You don't want me to?" She said slowly,

"Uh… No, it's not that," He said, knowing that reasoning with her at this point was pretty much impossible,

"Well then," There was a glint in her expression that Soul know was about it get him into big trouble, a theory that was very quickly confirmed when her drunken mind somehow remembered combat training. She had freed her hands, pushed him down on the bed and had successfully put herself on top of him in only a few seconds.

Despite first struggling against her, he sighed in defeat.

"Come on," he said, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she was straddling him, trying _really really _hard not to let his mind wander to the _other _things they could be doing while in this position. Trying RIDICULOUSLY hard to say no to the girl he wanted more than anyone else in the world.

She leaned forward, bringing her face down to meet his, that mischievous look still in her eyes, that stupid sexy little coy smile on her lips.

"Whaat?" She feigned ignorance, her lips gently tracing along his jawline.

Where. The. Fuck. Did she learn to do that from?

"Maka," he said, breathless, feeling his pants tightening against his will, "Stop," he almost pleaded with her, but it seemed only to encourage her.

Suddenly, she pressed her lips against his. Soft and unmoving for a moment, before he couldn't say no to her anymore and his mouth parted ever so slightly. She deepened the kiss, their mouths moving with a growing ferocity as Soul suddenly sat up, her hands knotting in his hair as she straddled his lap, him holding her lower back, pulling her closer and closer into him. Their breathing loud and heavy, she separated for only a moment to pant:

"I love you,"

There were a lot of things Soul really, really wanted. He wished he was more sober. He wished he had a stronger will. He wished that she wasn't drunk at all even a little and that this had happened because _oh man _as if this was.

He froze, his eyes wide. She went back to his mouth but he stayed unmoving, a statue.

"Stop," he said in between her kissing his unresponsive figure. She ignored him, her hands moving up his arms,

She mumbled something to the effect of: "nuhuhh," before he pushed her off gently,

"STOP,"

It wasn't a shout, but it wasn't exactly nice sounding either. She did though, and looked at him: confused and offended.

"What is wrong with you?" She said, but he didn't respond.

She climbed off of him quickly, getting off the bed and standing to her feet, staring at him accusingly.

"Why are you always so mean!?" she said loudly before pulling her suitcase into the bathroom with her and slamming the door.

His head was in his hands. He groaned and slumped over to his side.

"Fuck." he mumbled.

.

.

.

She had come out of the bathroom in her pajamas, turned off the light and angry fallen into bed, without so much as a glance his way. He felt bad, yeah, but he felt _more _terrible for letting things get as far as they did.

He didn't want her to think he was taking advantage of her, he didn't want a stupid drunk flirty night to ruin their friendship and… frankly, his chances of something _real _like that happening. He knew she would be upset that he had let them get so hot and heavy last night, but he was sure she would forgive him, if she remembered it at all.

Or, he thought that last night.

Because as it stood right now, she hadn't said a word to him all morning. He knew she was hung-over, but when he asked her how she was feeling all she had done was shrug and continue to ignore him. What made things worse was that they were supposed to go meet her mother for breakfast in half an hour.

They were leaving early, as Maka did, so that they wouldn't miss it. He had held the door to the hotel room open for her, but when she walked through while actively avoiding eye contact, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Maka," He said firmly, still holding the door,

"What?" She shot back, snippy.

He paused for a moment, not knowing what to say, guilt filling him.

"Look, about last night, I don't know how much you remember but—"

"It's fine." She said curtly, still not looking at him. She tapped her foot impatiently, "Can we talk about this later or something? We're going to be late,"

"Oh," He said, pausing for a moment, "So… You're not… mad at me?"

"No." she lied,

"Are you upset with your mom?" He tried, he was treading lightly, knowing the volatile mood she was in was just begging for an explosion.

"No, I don't care." She clicked her tongue, "Let's _go _Soul!"

He sighed, taking a step through the door and letting it close behind him. He was locking it when he heard her make an annoyed sound. It was kinda… getting on his nerves.

"Look," he said turning around, "I'm SORRY okay? I really am! I didn't mean for things to go so far, okay?"

"Whatever. It's _fine." _She hissed, finally looking him in the eye,

"Okay, clearly it's not." He met her gaze with as much fierceness, "So tell me you're pissed off so I can work on fixing this and making you not hate me for it,"

"I'm not pissed off Soul!" She roared, "I'm embarrassed!"

They were both silent for a moment before he spoke,

"Because you were so drunk or-?"

"No!" She said, "I know you don't care about that." He suddenly noticed her cheeks were pinking, and she was fidgeting uncomfortably,

"Oh. Because of the… uh…" He remembered the way she felt against him: so warm and perfect and _right_. He wanted to kiss her right then and there. Now that they had, he knew he'd want to every minute for the rest of the time he looked at her.

"Of course," She blushed, "I didn't… I thought… I didn't mean to…"

"Maka, it's fine," He said awkwardly. He didn't really think they'd ever have a conversation like this,

"I mean… I want you know that I—" She exhaled sharply, looking at the ground, biting her lip: she was so uncomfortable.

"You…?" He offered,

"I mean… I wasn't… When I said that I…"

He stared at her expectantly,

"When you said that you… loved me?" He said slowly,

"Y-yeah,"

"Uh, it's fine,"

"No I mean like…"

"Maka, seriously, I know you were drunk, it's fine,"

"No it's just that I uh… you know…"

…

"No not really?"

She sucked in a deep breath and when she finally spoke her words were fast and borderline incomprehensible:

"I kind of really meant it and I love you and I'm sorry you don't feel the same way but I don't want it to come between us and please don't let it and we better be partners for a long time and I'm sorry I finally said it because I just couldn't hold it in I guess and—"

He closed the space between them faster than he knew he could, his mouth crashing down against hers as they hit the wall behind her. Her eyes were wide for only a second before she had her arms snaked around his neck as she kissed him, passionate and confused, and he kissed her back with the same intensity.

They parted finally and she stared up at him,

"Wait I…" She said, biting her lip, "Does this mean…?"

"I'm so fucking in love with you, it wrecks me every goddamn day," He leaned down and kissed her again, pulling her closer to him greedily. She pulled away and he made a disappointed sound in the back of this throat,

"So then last night?"

He exhaled, frustrated,

"You were drunk as fuck. It's not cool to take advantage of girls when they're like that," He looked away. She knew that was his version of shy, although he would never admit it.

She grinned up at him,

"So." She said, playing with his shirt affectionately, "I guess my mom's wedding wasn't _so_ bad,"

He laughed down at her,

"I don't know, it was pretty terrible," He grinned and she laughed loudly, almost jumping into hugging him tightly. They stumbled back slightly, giggling and being stupidly love struck before she raised her eyebrows,

"You know…" She said thoughtfully, "I am pretty hungover," She pursed her lips and he smirked,

"Yes, and?"

"And maybe it would be a good idea for us just to… stay in this morning," She gestured towards the hotel room, "And pick up where we left off last night,"

He didn't even know she could sound so suggestive, but if she was going to start using that tone of voice regularly, he was in for it. Because there was no way in hell he could say no to her.

"Well, I mean, if that's what'll make you feel better," He laughed, playing it cool, but his skin was prickling in anticipation.

She reached into his pocket and retrieved the keycard, opening the door to their room, taking his hand and pulling him in after her,

"Skipping a planned breakfast?" Soul shook his head, kidding, "Kami would never do such a thing,"

"Well," Maka shrugged, looping her fingers into the belt loops of his dark jeans, "Guess it's a good thing I'm not her," She beamed up at him and leaned his forehead down onto hers,

"Wouldn't want it any other way," He paused for a moment before smirking down at her, "Pigtails."

.

.

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* * *

><p><em>AN Well! I hope you enjoyed!_

_I write Soul drunk a lot and figured Maka needed a turn._

_I still love requests and feedback, like I said earlier, do you guys still care about SoMa?_

_You'll be hearing more from me. I promise! _


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